Spain: A unique solstice sanctuary dating back 2,500 years has been discovered.

In the hills that occupy the central-southern part of Spain , in Andalusia , archaeologists have discovered a fascinating and monumental solstice sanctuary .

It is located in Jódar , a Spanish municipality in the province of Jaén, nestled at the foot of Cerro de San Cristóbal, in the mountainous area of ​​Serrezuela de Jódar, part of the Sierra Mágina massif. Here, not only a 2,500-year-old stone complex was unearthed, but also what may have been a "temple of the cosmos," designed and built specifically to perfectly capture the allure of the winter solstice .

What was discovered

Archaeologists from the Institute of Iberian Archaeology (IAI) have uncovered an imposing monolith over 5 meters high at the El Fontanar site. It is not placed randomly: its elongated, vertical shape is in fact oriented toward the point where the sun rises on the shortest day of the year , the winter solstice. At dawn on this day (when the sun is at its lowest point above the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere and which usually occurs around December 21st), a ray of sunlight pierces the tip of the monolith and projects directly toward a nearby stone shelter almost 7 meters high .

The latter features a V-shaped entrance, which archaeologists interpret as a powerful symbol of femininity . A huge boulder above the opening resembles the fallopian tubes, while the lower stones mark the contours of the female anatomy.

As the winter solstice dawns, the sun's rays and shadows create a special spectacle : the shadow of the "male" stone extends across the ground and touches the lower recess of the shelter, where the rock surface evokes a shape similar to that of the female genital organ.

It is a recreation of the hierogamy , a sacred union between male and female forces that not only represents a “cosmic marriage” but also a mythical ritual of fertility and rebirth : the solar hero connecting with the Earth goddess.

Why it's important

The archaeologist Arturo Ruiz explains the importance of the discovery, published in the journal Complutum (Ruiz, A.; Molinos, M.; Esteban, C; Yanes, M.; Lechuga, M. Á. (2025): Paisaje, camino y liturgia en el mito del héroe de Iltiraka. Complutum, 36(1): 77-95), reiterating how these images are part of religious traditions common to the entire Mediterranean. They are present in Egypt and Greece , but also in Iberian culture . In this culture , not only abstract symbols remain, but also real ones, inserted into nature and synchronized with the movement of the sun.

The monumental solstice sanctuary discovered by archaeologists in Spain dates back to the 5th-4th century BC, before the main Iberian settlements in the region. This suggests that the site was a hub of religious life long before urban centers flourished.

“This monument is extraordinary in its scale and purpose ,” Ruiz observed. “It was designed to unite heaven and earth, to affirm the sacred bond between the masculine and feminine principles.”

The site of El Fontanar, which in some ways recalls the famous Stonehenge , is part of the Iberian mythology linked to Úbeda la Vieja and Puente Tablas, in which a hero or solar deity descends into the underworld in autumn and is reborn at the winter solstice . The alignment of the stones symbolizes this cycle of death, sacred union, and rebirth .

Similar studies at El Pajarillo, with sculpted scenes of a hero battling a wolf, demonstrate the same symbolic transition. Together, the two sites form a ritual landscape in which myth, astronomy, and territory intertwine: for the Iberians, the Earth itself was the cosmic theater of the hero's journey.

The discovery at El Fontanar once again highlights how ancient peoples integrated astronomy, architecture, and spirituality. While in every culture the solstice marked a turning point and the triumph of light over darkness, in the Iberian Peninsula this moment was immortalized in stone, merging myth and cosmic reality. A timeless reminder that humanity has always sought to create a bridge between Earth and heaven, between reality and spirituality.