In the second part of the day spent visiting the megalithic sites of Antequera in Spain we travelled the mile or so down the main road out of town heading towards the dominant feature in the landscape – the mountain of La Pena. We drove into what can only be described as an industrial estate, down a road whose tarmac suddenly ran out, and then down a dirt track, all the while following vague brown signs pointing towards ‘El Romeral‘. As we turned yet again into an area that seemed all ‘wrong’ for an ancient site, we could begin to see some grass and trees at the end of the track. Was this it?
As we pulled into the car park with its dedicated ticket booth (oops – should we have paid at the previous site?) El Romeral loomed with it circular crown of cypress trees. It looked like a crown jewel among the slovenly industrial units and their dumping grounds that surrounded the site. We noticed that yet again there was a bus full of school children visiting the place, so we sat and had lunch while we waited for them to finish their noisy procession in and out of the central chamber.
At the time of visiting I didn’t have my bearings of the place and its surroundings. Only later did I do some research and find that there is a cardinal alignment between El Romeral’s chamber and the El Torcal sleeping dragon that faces it due South of the site. It’s like the dragon is watching the chamber from far above. The only noticeable alignment on the ground is with the La Pena mountain – the lady in the landscape. A gap in the line of trees shows the mountain’s profile perfectly.
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