Christianized megalithic monument

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Menhir of St. Uzec
Anta São Brissos converted into a chapel
Anta von Pavia converted into a chapel

Christianized megalithic monuments are dolmens ( French dolmen christianisé ) or menhirs ( French menhir christianisé ) on which a cross was attached ( dolmen from Cruz-Menquen ) or which were converted into chapels. In the countries on the Atlantic coast , they were also included in church services and processions.

France

Menhir Men Marz in Brignogan

In Brittany in particular menhirs such as those of Estivareilles, Givarlais, Kernalec, Men-Marz , Menhir christiannisé du bourg de Commana and Saint-Uzec were Christianized. On a river island in the Vienne , near Confolens , the orthostats (bearing stones) of the “Dolmen de la Madeleine” were replaced by Romanesque columns, while the capstone became the roof of a chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene . The menhir de Pierre Frite has been given a niche for a statue of the Virgin Mary and a concrete cross stands on the dolmens Cruz-Menquen and Le Guilliguy . On the "menhir christiannisé" by Brignogan and the menhir Croix de Pasquiou there are stone crosses, on that of Mauriac a steel cross. The little chapel of the seven saints (Chapelle des Sept-Saints in Le Vieux-Marché), south of Lannion, is a pilgrimage chapel in the Côtes-d'Armor department, which was built over a gallery grave . The "Megaliths de la Pierre qui vire" in the forest of Morvan, regarded as a Druidic cult site, was Christianized by the Abbaye Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire with a statue of the Virgin Mary. The Dolmen de la Croix Blanche (Eure) was misused as a support for a cross. The menhir du Breitenstein north of Sarrebourg was reworked into a stone cross with the representation of the "douze apôtres" (12 apostles).

Ireland

The oratory of Holy Island has megaliths inside , which are arranged in such a way that they may have belonged to a small passage tomb , a portal tomb or a five-stone circle .

Portugal

  • The conversion of the Anta of São Brissos to the Nossa Senhora do Livramento chapel probably took place in the 17th century. The vestibule of the chapel was added to the four bearing stones and the huge capstone of a large ante. The fifth bearing stone of the Anta is nearby and once stood at the site of today's entrance to the chapel. The corridor and the hill of the Anta have completely disappeared. Both the Anta and thus the chapel have an unusual south-west orientation.
  • Near Arraiolos , in the center of the village of Pavia, another dolmen has been turned into a chapel and dedicated to São Dionisio (or São Dinis).
  • In an anta acts as a chapel of the church of Santa Maria Madalena in Alcobertas.
  • The Anta Nossa Senhora do Monte is located under the choir of the chapel of the same name near Penedono . The immediate vicinity of Anta and the church are in Penedono (another facility).

Spain

The Eglesia de la Santa Cruz de Cangas de Onís (built 737 AD) in Cangas de Onís in Asturias stands over a megalithic complex .

Sweden

Four supporting pillars in Uppsala Cathedral are erected on rune stones , the sides of which are turned up. A cross between the kite nooses shows the client's Christian attitude. It can be ruled out that one wanted to symbolically humiliate the stones. For a similar reason, the picture stone by Sproge probably served as a holy water bowl, whereby the depiction was damaged by the stonemason.

Switzerland

The anthropomorphic menhir by Bassecourt , around 90 cm high , was integrated into the wall of the Saint-Hubert chapel from the 12th century in Bassecourt in the Swiss Jura. This was supposed to put an end to the stone cult around the menhir, which in popular belief has healing properties against ear disorders.

literature

  • Dr. Atgier: Christianisation de Mégalithes de Seine-et-Marne aux environs de Malesherbes In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique de France 1912, Volume 9 Numéro 2; Pp. 150-152
  • Cornelius Holtorf: Monte da Igreja, Torre de Coelheiros, Évora. Thoughts on the "life story" of a megalithic grave . In: Tanya Armbruester; Morten Hegewisch (Ed.): Contributions to the prehistory and early history of the Iberian Peninsula and Central Europe. Studies in honorem Philine Kalb . = On pre- and earlier history of Iberia and Central Europe. Studies in honor of Philine Kalb . Habelt, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-7749-3661-4 , pp. 273-279 ( Studies on the Archeology of Europe 11).
  • Thomas G. Schattner (Ed.): Archaeological guide through Portugal (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 74). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-8053-2313-1 .
  • Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. F. Ed. Koby: Les vestiges de Mégalithes dans le nord du Jura. Actes de la Société jurassienne d'Emulation, 1948, pp. 40-44
  2. ^ Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer, Hanns Baechtold-Staeubli (ed.): Concise dictionary of German superstition . Volume 6, Walter de Gruyter 1974, keyword megalithic buildings , column 84