Santiponce Itálica

Heritage

An immense legacy waiting to be discovered

Dolmen of La Pastora 

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The Valencina Archaeological Zone is located in the highest part of the Aljarafe of Seville, extending beyond its boundaries to the neighboring town of Castilleja de Guzmán. Its extension of more than 400 hectares makes it one of the largest settlements of the third millennium BC. Judging by the quantity and magnitude of the megalithic constructions, Valencina must have been a great economic, social and ritual centre at the time.

Discovered in the late 19th century, it has been subjected to numerous archaeological excavations that have brought to light constructions of the primitive settlement such as huts, silos and pits, but also monumental funeral constructions that have proven it to have been one of the main focuses of megalithic activity on the peninsular and a true focal point during the 3rd millennium B.C.

One of the most striking features is the uniqueness of some of the constructions of the necropolis, such as the tumuli that cover structures of several tens of metres, such as the Dolmen of La Pastora and that of Matarrubilla, which in turn are surrounded by numerous and varied structures that form a unique funerary landscape.

To the east of the town of Valencina is the Dolmen of La Pastora. It is a tholos with the longest corridor found on the Iberian Peninsula, another unusual feature being its anomalous astronomical orientation at sunset, when the norm is the solar ortho. These characteristics, together with its constructive design, its dimensions and some of the objects recovered such as spearheads, mean that its value as a tomb is exceeded by its significance as a sacred place of special relevance. The old dates suggested are being superseded by ongoing research that takes its construction back several hundred years.

Opening times

All year round from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, with prior reservation

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