<< Our Photo Pages >> San Miguel de Arrechinaga - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in Spain in Pais Vasco
Submitted by Sunny100 on Saturday, 08 January 2011 Page Views: 6599
Natural PlacesSite Name: San Miguel de Arrechinaga Alternative Name: Hermitage of St Michael the Archangel, ArretxinagaCountry: Spain Region: Pais Vasco Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Bilbao Nearest Village: Markina-Xemein
Latitude: 43.271478N Longitude: 2.495099W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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Two gigantic boulders with a third hidden behind support each other. They are said to be millions of years old (some say 40 million) which rules out them being part of a prehistoric burial site. They are probably natural boulders which may have been shaped at some point in the past and in the last century or two gained some sort of religious association, possibly with a hermit living here. A medieval chapel was built around the stones but that fell into ruin; then in the 18th century the present chapel was built over that, again surrounding the giant boulders.
In between the boulders stands a shrine dedicated to St Michael the Archangel and St Pollonia, a local saint. On the altar a figure of St Michael watches over the chapel. The chapel has an hexagonal floor. The roof is pyramid-shaped and made of unworked stone. In the middle the cupola comes together in the centre with a large radiating key-lock boss. The chapel entrance has an upper axis upon which stands a belltower.
According to local legend/folklore a man wishing to marry within the year must pass beneath the boulders three times. Another legend says that St Michael buried the devil beneath the three boulders - so in a way it is a burial site of sorts. Perhaps this is one of those cases where a prehistoric monument has been adapted to suit Christianity, but not completely push the pagan beliefs aside.
For more information and reference sources see the Journal of Antiquities entry for San Miguel de Arrechinaga, Markina-Xemein, Biscay, Northern Spain.
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
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