"A Neolithic tomb that drowns and resurfaces, marking drought with five-thousand-year-old granite"
Dolmen of Guadalperal
El Gordo, Extremadura, Spain
Beneath the Valdecanas Reservoir in Extremadura lie the remains of a corridor tomb built between the fifth and third millennia BCE. Constructed from some 150 granite orthostats near a ford on the Tagus River, the Dolmen of Guadalperal was excavated by Hugo Obermaier in the 1920s and then submerged by a Franco-era dam in 1963. It re-emerged during severe droughts in 2019 and 2022, becoming an involuntary monument to climate change and an international symbol of what water hides and drought reveals.
Weather & Best Time
Plan Your Visit
Save this site and start planning your journey.
Quick Facts
Location
El Gordo, Extremadura, Spain
Site Type
Coordinates
39.8317, -5.4027
Last Updated
Feb 17, 2026
Learn More
Built between the fifth and third millennia BCE near a Tagus River ford, excavated by Hugo Obermaier in 1925-1927, submerged by the Valdecanas dam in 1963, and re-emerged during droughts in 2019 and 2022. Declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2022.
Origin Story
The dolmen was constructed by the prehistoric communities of the Tagus River valley, positioned at one of the few fordable points on the river. The builders quarried and erected approximately 150 granite orthostats to create an ovoid chamber with a twenty-one-meter access corridor. At the chamber entrance, they placed a menhir carved with serpentine lines that recent researchers have interpreted as possibly the oldest realistic map in the world, depicting the Tagus and its tributaries. The site served as a funerary monument and likely as a ceremonial and trading center where communities from different territories converged at the river crossing.
Key Figures
Hugo Obermaier
German archaeologist who conducted the first scientific excavation of the dolmen between 1925 and 1927, repositioning fallen orthostats and documenting artifacts
Raices de Peraleda
Local community heritage organization advocating for the permanent relocation of the dolmen to dry ground
Spiritual Lineage
The dolmen belongs to the Iberian megalithic tradition, which produced thousands of corridor tombs, dolmens, and menhirs across the peninsula from the fifth millennium BCE onward. In Extremadura, the Dolmen de Lacara near Merida provides a comparable monument. The broader tradition connects to the Atlantic European megalithic complex extending from Portugal through Brittany to Scandinavia.
Know a Sacred Site We Should Include?
Help us expand our collection of sacred sites. Share your knowledge and contribute to preserving the world's spiritual heritage.