<< Our Photo Pages >> El Centro de Interpretación del Megalitismo de Gorafe - Museum in Spain in Andalucía
Submitted by TimPrevett on Monday, 21 January 2013 Page Views: 4388
MuseumsSite Name: El Centro de Interpretación del Megalitismo de Gorafe Alternative Name: CIM, Gorafe Megalithic Interpretation CentreCountry: Spain Region: Andalucía Type: Museum
Nearest Town: Gorafe
Latitude: 37.479006N Longitude: 3.044693W
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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The Centro de Interpretación del Megalitismo de Gorafe opened in June 2011 after many years of development and building. Outside and on top of the building is a mirador, a viewing point, to take in the stunning valley around the town of Gorafe.
A hi-tech science fiction looking interior with a spherical projection screen for a film about megalithic monuments takes up most of the space.
As of January 2013, the admission was 3 Euros for adults. Gift shop at the start and finish (you exit somewhere different!) with completely different stock in each, so go careful with your cash as there might be something in the second shop you've not got money left for.
Admission times are to be seen on one of the gallery images.
The visit is structured and guided, with opening for 11am and 4pm. (Not 11 to 4!) The visit takes about an hour. A short film in a small room gives background on the Gorafe archaeology, then you enter the main focus of the building. A dark huge chamber with a spiraling sloped footway around a central sphere. Short films are projected on to it. There are also a couple side passages where other interpretive films and displays are shown. If there's demand, one is in English. The others are in Spanish but you get the general understanding of them even if your Spanish is very basic.
We received a very warm welcome from the locals who seem very proud of their heritage. A community of 550 or so, many of whom live in cave dwellings cut into the clay, one of which is also a museum. The guide for the centre took us to this cave too. She's passionate about Gorafe, and the Centro de Interpretación del Megalitismo de Gorafe outstrips any megalithic interpretation hitherto seen anywhere else.
The village has a hotel / cafe on the right hand side as you enter the town from the valley direction. Good prices and warm welcome there; useful for refreshment after walking the valley tops looking at tombs or killing time waiting for the Centro de Interpretación del Megalitismo de Gorafe to open!
Visit the landscape and tombs and support this attraction! The internet does not figure (yet) in their promotion but there is a video about the centre here.
Anonymous comments in October 2011, "If going to southern Spain, try and get to Gorafe. The local community in this very economically deprived rural area have put their heart and soul into looking after the archaeology: they have built a new museum, right in the middle of their (tiny) village, and have given up private ownership of all the sites in the landscape, in order to create archaeological trails and open access to all the sites for visitors and tourists. Well worth visiting - leave plenty of time to do the walks up and along the valley sides. The village has a restaurant and even a small hotel, and they will be delighted to see you. Please support their efforts - the sites are not phenomenal individually, but as an archaeological landscape it is an extraordinary place. Very well worth the visit."
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