Rock-Art of the Mediterranean Basin

The late prehistoric rock-art sites of the Mediterranean seaboard of the Iberian peninsula form an exceptionally large group. Here the way of life during a critical phase of human development is vividly and graphically depicted in paintings whose style and subject matter are unique.



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Reviews

David Berlanda (Italy / Czech Republic):
It was very hard to find on the Internet for our trip around Spain a rock art site of those being part of this WHS satisfying the criteria I had in my mind for choosing one of them: proximity to our Spanish itinerary, good accessibility without too much walking - they are often situated at high altitudes far away from main roads - … possibly a cave with a guided tour - but I didn’t find one available without booking and there is also the fact that this sites are mainly shelters.
Finally I chose the site of Cabra Feixet in Catalonia near El Perolló putting my trust in this two Spanish web pages: http://www.xtec.es/centres/e3001929/cabra/cabra2.htm and http://www.arqueomurcia.com/arterupestre/catalu/feixet.htm. From this descriptions with map it seemed to me that it was easily accessible, but I was wrong.
You have to take the road going from El Perolló to Rasquera and after 7 km you will find without problems on your left a sign telling you that the rock art site is 3,5 km from there (we didn’t notice that there was also written with pencil in French that it is quite impossible to reach it by car – maybe a desperate tourist had left it).
So we ventured with our car to a road that after 1 km turned out to be unsurfaced, extremely narrow and endless. We couldn’t turn back the car and go away and, risking to have an accident, had to arrive to the parking (it seemed incredible that this road, that ended there, had been designed expressly for reaching the rock art site). Here some unclear signs bring you, in much more than the 10 and 25 minutes written there, to the highly disappointing site of Cabra Feixet, a small prehistoric shelter protected by a cage, where might be 13 red painted figures, but only 3 are clearly visible - a hunter and two animals - and to some shelters without paintings not being part of the WHS.
Certainly the landscape in which it is situated, with spectacular rocks and a luxuriant vegetation, is more interesting than the rock art site itself.
Now, an advice: don’t go there, above all not with a common car. It is one of the most disappointing WHS I have ever seen. Maybe I have just chosen the wrong site and probably there are much better places included in this WHS (there are also municipalities with more than 50 rock art sites while Cabra Feixet is the only one in El Perolló). Certainly Cabra Feixet doesn’t deserve its inscription. However I have seen only this site, so I can’t say if the overall site deserves it. But I’m sure that there will be also other sites like this, so the inscription of 727 places on the WHL, even if they constitute the largest group of rock art sites in Europe, is excessive and could be inscribed only the most representative sites that probably deserve their place on the WHL. This sites are generally in the middle of nowhere so their conservation and authenticity is certainly perfect.
The most similar WHS to this that I have ever visited is that of the prehistoric sites of the Vézčre Valley in France, where the paintings are quite similar to those of Cabra Feixet, in a much bigger extension, much more worthy of being visited and certainly deserving their place on the List.
In the picture are the three red figures of the shelter Cabra Feixet: a hunter and two animals.
 
Sazanami (Japan):
I visited to Cuevas de la Ananas,which is located in the clad-forest valley,over three mountains and four villages. Those rock-paintings are of cultural importance to be suggested the style of the human life there. All rock-paintings are prohibited to be entered in where those were described;rock shelters,walls,and so on.But I asked the authority,in this case the city hall,to inroduce the shelters. Nowadays there are nearly 5000 visitors to the rock art and whose villas are interspersed in the basin,I heared. These are worth visiting because of the concentration and the diversity of prehistoric rock art,if you are interested in the art,and world heritage collector
Date posted: March 2006
Paco Lorente (Spain):
Yes, indeed this inscription is strange, but there is at least one place where you can enjoy visiting several mural paintings at once: Sierra de Albarracin (Teruel) inside "Paisaje protegido de los pinares de rodeno" park.
This place is located near Albarracín one of the most beautiful towns in Spain.

A panorama of a painting in http://www.albarracin.org/rutasierra/PinturasG.htm

All information in www.albarracin.org and www.sierradealbarracin.org

Regards.
Date posted: March 2006
Ian Cade (England):
Having just looked at the inscription in more detail I have discovered that it is made up of a whopping 727 seperate sites!!.
This is one of the strangest inscriptions there is on the WH List, I am sure they are very justified but there are 727 of them!! They are scatered from Barcelona down to Gibraltar.
I am pretty sure I have visited at least one of these sites in the many times I have visited Spain, but I am not willing to count it as a site that I have visited properly.
I have a feeling I have visited some of the sites in the María and Alicante area when I was much younger, so I am adding this to the group of sites that I have not really visited but have seen, (this list is getting frustratingly long!!) oh well!
Date posted: July 2005


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