Ninety seconds on Dolmen de Menga
Stand at the back of Menga's chamber and look out through the doorway, and the Peña de los Enamorados, the rock shaped like a face on the plain, fills it. Then cross the grass to Viera, a second tomb reached down a long stone corridor.
Each side wall is a row of huge upright stones, and one more stone closes the far end. Five slabs make the roof, and the one over the back of the chamber weighs about 180 tonnes. Three square pillars stand in a line down the middle.
On the first slab on your left as you enter, look for the carved human figures, the only ones at any of the three Antequera dolmens. Behind the third pillar, at the back, a well almost 20 metres deep drops to the water table. It was found only in 2005.
Viera, a short walk across the site, has a different plan. A long corridor lined with upright slabs leads to a square chamber, entered through a doorway cut in a single stone. Of the three tombs, only Viera lines up with the sun: its corridor faces the sunrise at the spring and autumn equinoxes.
Reception is at the entrance of the site museum on the Carretera de Málaga, and the visit starts there. Inside, walk through the Cosmovisión exhibition, then sit for the short film on how Menga was built. Seeing it first helps you understand what you are looking at in the chamber.
From the museum, a path climbs a small hill to the dolmens in a few minutes. Follow the circular path to Menga first and walk right into the chamber, where the air is cool.
Go on round the same path to Viera, then back down to the museum. If you have time left, the Antequera Milenaria hall covers the prehistory of the plain around the tombs.
Free guided visits of Menga and Viera run in seasonal programmes, usually at weekends and on holidays, leaving from museum reception in the morning. To book, email the site's visits desk a few days ahead, and ask for the current programme and the language of the guide. The address is on the official site, linked beside this page.
In July and August the path between the tombs has little shade, so come early or in the summer evening session. Bring water and a hat for the walk up from the museum.
Pair the dolmens in the morning with El Torcal, a maze of weathered limestone about half an hour away by car, in the afternoon, walking among the rocks until near sunset.
Hours shift with holidays and conservation work, so call the site on 952 712 206 the day before a holiday visit.
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