Dolmen of Santa Cruz

The dolmen of Santa Cruz is a funerary monument dating from 4000 BC, consisting of an artificial mound inside which there is a burial chamber made up of several stone slabs. This building was razed to the ground, as was the burial mound that covered the megalithic monument, in 1936. The present-day chapel and tumulus are therefore of modern construction.

The dolmen is made up of five large stone slabs and two smaller ones that form a rectangular chamber which, presumably, must have been accessed from the southeast side. Its dimensions are important, as they allow a person to stand upright inside it. We do not know the configuration of the roof, although it is most likely to have been made of a single slab.

Another element that makes the dolmen of Santa Cruz particularly interesting is the collection of paintings, engravings and pickaxes that covered the inside of the chamber. The remains of the decoration that have survived are made up of traces of red paint, with broken lines predominating.

It is located in the Contraquil neighbourhood, in Canges d'Onís/Cangas de Onís. It is located inside the Chapel of the Holy Cross.