Igreja de Santa Maria Madalena

About

The Anta-Capela de Alcobertas (also called Anta de Santa Maria Madalena) is a large megalithic tomb, or dolmen, located in the parish of Alcobertas, within the municipality of Rio Maior in Santarém District, Portugal. “Anta” is a word often used for dolmens in Portugal. It dates back to the Late-Neolithic or Neo-Chalcolithic periods. In the 17th-century, at a time when Alcobertas had a population of around 2,000, the dolmen was incorporated, as a side chapel, into the Baroque church of Saint Mary Magdalene, having previously stood alone as part of a small chapel. It is a rare example of the Christianization of an ancient megalithic monument, which has survived to this day as part of the church's architectural design. It has been listed as a Building of Public Interest since 18 July 1957.

Description: The dolmen, which is one of the ten largest megalithic monuments in Iberia, consists of seven granite, upright orthostats that formed the polygonal burial chamber. Until the 18th-century it was covered by a monolithic capstone or roof but it fractured and was replaced by a vaulted roof. These orthostats date back to around 3000 BCE. The entire structure would originally have been covered...