Callanish sits on the main Isle of Lewis, diagonally across from Stornoway, the present “capital” of the islands – though it only has a population of 6,000. Here, there are some visible remains of a destroyed stone circle. The stones might have come from a cliff at Na Dromannan, a mile inland from Callanish. It makes one wonder whether our ancestors knew how special this stone was, and whether it was for this quality that they used it in this circle. The average height of the stones is nevertheless an impressive four metres, though the range varies from one to five metres all stones are local Lewisian gneiss, which, at three billion years old, is the oldest type of stone of Britain. It is therefore not grand in size, but in appearance. The site is also quite unique, for unlike the tried and tested settings of most megalithic monuments, Callanish is laid out as a circle, consisting of 13 stones and 13 metres in diameter, which towards the outside has further megalithic stones in the shape of a Celtic cross. In fact, it has earned the nickname “Stonehenge of the North”. Still, there is something here that attracted, thousands of years ago, a large enough population to build the “Callanish Stones”, one of the most spectacular and grandest megalithic monuments anywhere. It is remote times two, even for modern standards. That describes the Outer Hebrides, off the western coast of the northernmost part of Scotland. That in itself is a major clue that it was likely a temple known to the ancient Greeks, who linked it with their god Apollo and a mysterious island known as Hyperborea.Ģ000 BC. Feature Articles – Callanish: the Hyperborean temple Callanish is one of the most beautiful, but also most remote stone circles in Europe.
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