Dolmen of Alcobertas
The Alcobertas Parish Church is an original example of Christianization of an ancient megalithic monument, which has survived to the present day. It is a polygonal dolmen, composed of seven pillars, with a corridor that forms the passage from the chamber to the interior of the church. The various reformulations made to the monumental ensemble led to a major alteration of the prehistoric monument, with a hipped roof being placed in particular.
The church dates from the last years of the 15th century and grew in importance in the following decades, which led the Archbishop of Lisbon to elevate it to the parish’s main temple on July 4, 1536. The dolmen, however, ceased to function as a chapel. main of the temple and started to function only as a side chapel.
In terms of style, it is an uncharacteristic ensemble, very different from the monumentality of the usual facades. The interior has a single nave, with a baptismal chapel (which includes a Manueline-style font), a perfect back arch leading to the anta-chapel. The church of Alcobertas or Santa Maria Madalena was a megalithic funerary monument (from the late Neolithic) that has survived to the present day, first as a hermitage and later integrated into a church.
It is one of the 10 largest in the Iberian Peninsula and is composed of 7 stones at the top, which form the burial chamber and includes a corridor. A dolmen or dolmen is, by definition, a grave consisting of several vertical stones with another one serving as a cover, called a hat.
Local traditions say that the Anta was built by Maria Madalena, who brought the stones from the Serra da Luz or had them born in this place for the believers there to atone for their sins.
Anta is classified as a Property of Public Interest.