Cruzeiro de São João do Campo
Photo · Public domainSource file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Cruzeiro de São João do Campo is a stone cross monument standing at the junction of the roads to Junceda, Carvalheira, Covide and Vilarinho, in the parish of Campo do Gerês, municipality of Terras de Bouro, Braga District, Portugal. Its distinctive feature is that its support is an ancient Roman milestone.
The milestone was erected during the rule of Emperor Decius (249-251) and marks mile XXVII of the Via Nova. The monument has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.
Read on Wikipedia1 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Article
Cruzeiro de São João do Campo
The monument is a well-preserved granite monolith carrying a Latin cross in wood, with a figure of Christ in stone.
DescriptionSources for this section
Sources for this section
The monument is a well-preserved granite monolith carrying a Latin cross in wood, with a figure of Christ in stone. The whole assembly is covered by a triangular metal structure resting on three circular granite columns. The base is circular and has three steps.
DatingSources for this section
Sources for this section
The Roman milestone that serves as the support dates from the reign of Decius (249-251). Its inscription reads: "IMP CAES / G MISSO TR / DACO NVTO / PIO / FEL AVG / P MAX TR P / PC IIII C II / P C A BRAC / M P / XXVII". The final line gives the distance as mile XXVII, measured along the Via Nova.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Discoidal steles of Iberia
The Basque word hilarri, from hil "dead" and harri "stone", names the disc-shaped funerary steles that are typical of the Basque Country. They have a disc-shaped head on a trapezoidal base, and the head faces the rising sun. They belong to an old tradition throughout the western Mediterranean, including parts of Europe and North Africa, but today they are found mainly in the Basque Country.
The disc may be decorated with geometric symbols, generally dividing the disc into four or eight circle sectors, marked or implied, with a structuring of space that recalls older solar symbols. The Atlas's Spanish steles include Basque and Catalan funerary stones of this kind.
A funerary stele is a monument that marks a grave and carries text or ornament. In the ancient world steles were set up for funerary or commemorative purposes, and they could also be government notices or boundary markers. Hilarri belong to the tradition of grave markers, not to the megalithic tradition of standing stones, even though the Atlas groups them together.
Dating is by inscription where there is one, and by style where there is not.
The disc may be divided into four or eight circle sectors, marked or implied, with a flowered cross, a cross pattée with concave ends, or an Occitan cross; or it may bear a single rosette, a lauburu or another figure that suggests rotation. A smaller rosette, a Christian cross or a text may be added on the stand.
When visiting, look at the disc and its decoration, and at the direction in which it faces.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Hilarri, Wikipedia: Discoidal stele, Wikipedia: Stele · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 1910
Encontra-se classificado como Monumento Nacional desde 1910.
Source
Photographs
6 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Where it stands
Portugal
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 41°44′58″ N, 8°11′50″ WFor a GPS or map app: 41.74956, -8.19712
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
1 source behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q10261935wikidata.org
Image files
- Cruzeiro - Marco mileário - São João do Campo.jpgPublic domain
- Cruzeiro de São João do Campo (2).jpgDuca696CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cruzeiro de São João do Campo.jpgDuca696CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cruzeiro de São João do Campo - Portugal 🇵🇹 (54905811962).jpgVitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGALCC BY-SA 4.0
- Cruzeiro de São João do Campo - Portugal 🇵🇹 (54905811947).jpgVitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGALCC BY-SA 4.0
- Peneda-Gerês National Park, Portugal (5145020165).jpgRick McCharles from Calgary, CanadaCC BY 2.0
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Marco miliário Covide e Campo<0.1 km S
- Marco miliário1.6 km SW
- Via Nova5.0 km NE
- Antas da Serra de Soajo18 km NW
- Nécropole mégalithique de Bustelo23 km W
- Casa da Moura28 km N
- Casola do Foxo28 km NE
- Mamoa do Batateiro28 km N
- A Casiña da Moura29 km NE
- Via romana de Braga a Tui - 14 marcos miliários (série capela)33 km W
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Cruzeiro de São João do Campo" (Portuguese), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors