Balma de Na Cristiana

About

The Balma de Na Cristiana is a dolmen located in the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales.

Toponymy: Balma is a Celtic toponym often used in Catalonia and in southern France to designate caves or places close to caves, but also sometimes for dolmens (Balma del Moro in Laroque-des-Albères). The word is passed in Catalan and means "deep cave" or "rock shelter". The Catalan word Na comes from the Latin Domina, "Lady". It is an article intended to mark politeness or respect and placed in front of the first name of a female person. Cristiana (or Crestiana) means "Christian". According to Jacques Freixe, the so-called Cristiana was a former owner of the land where the dolmen is located. As often in the region, the name of this dolmen is probably derived from a legend about the person supposedly buried there. "Cristiana" could be a Christianization of legend.

Situation: The dolmen de Na Cristiana is located on the southern flank of the puig de Sant Cristau, 650 m above sea level, on a small flat of a ridge line, at the foot of a rocky chaos, not far from the Perthus pass, in the west...