The Almendres Cromlech is a Neolithic stone circle in the Évora district in the Alentejo region. It is one of the most important cromlechs in Portugal and the entire Iberian Peninsula. Found rather recently in 1964 covered in vegetation, it started being constructed around 6000 BCE, which makes it about 3700 years older than Stonehenge. It went through two phases before being abandoned: initially as a stone circle about 18.8 meters in diameter and then a large ellipse was added above the circle roughly 1000 years later, the ellipse’s axis being about 46.6 meters.
This cromlech boasts several astronomical alignments, such as the moon travelling directly above its longitudinal axis during the Equinoxes. The imaginary line between the Almendres Cromlech and the Almendres Menhir 1 kilometer away is also aligned to the Winter Solstice sunrise.
Some of the stones contain carvings made by the ancient peoples who built this monument. Spirals, lunar motifs and phallic shapes are the most common symbols. The faces of the stones containing the carvings are also generally turned to East – the sunrise.
