Callanish Holiday Accommodation Guide providing you with information for the destination known as Callanish on Lewis some 15 miles west from Stornoway on the A858 near the head of Loch Roag, is famous for its cruciform setting of megaliths, unique in Scotland and outstanding in Britain and dated between 2000 and I500 B.C. The temple, on a ridge of the promontory jutting into the loch, consists of a circle of tall standing-stones round a chambered cairn which may have been an altar for human sacrifice.
Erected, it is believed, by a pre Celtic race of Iberian stock, the circle and altar were apparently connected with sun worship.
A main avenue, nearly 300 yards long, running due south is flanked by parallel rows of megaliths and leads directly to the sacrificial stone facing east and rising to a height of 17 ft.
Three lines of stones radiate from the centre circle to east, west and south creating an overall impression of a cross.
The mystery remains how these huge blocks of stone were transported and set up without mechanical aid.
Over the centuries they had sunk partly into the peat base, but in the middle of the last century Sir James Matheson had them dug round and cleared of peat, the marks of which may be seen half way up the taller stones.
The whole site is in the care of the Department of the Environment, and there is an explanatory leaflet.
About l mile to the north of Callanish is Breasclete, where the former Flannan Isles light house shore station has been converted into flats.
In this area there are some surviving but converted ‘black houses’, primitive dwellings peculiar to the Hebrides.
Expploring Callanish Holiday Accommodation Guide
- Callanish Latitude: 58.19816° N Longitude: -6.73804° E
- Callanish Postcode HS6
- Callanish WOEID 1248077
- Callanish Map
- Callanish Weather Forecast
- Callanish Reviews
An remarkable arrangement of stones in the form of a cross was created by the Calanais Standing Stones approximately five thousand years ago. They existed at least two thousand years before the famous Stonehenge monument in England and were an important location for ritual activity at that time.
Even though we do not know the reason why the standing stones at Calanais were created, we have a strong suspicion that they functioned as some type of astronomical observatory.
Patrick Ashmore, who was involved in the excavations at Calanais in the early 1980s, wrote the following: "The most tempting hypothesis... is that every 18.6 years, the moon skims particularly low over the southern hills." It would appear to be dancing along them, much like a great deity might do if he were on earth. Those who kept a watchful eye on the heavens gained authority on earth by their knowledge and ability to forecast this celestial event.
Urras Nan Tursachan is the owner and manager of the visitor centre, which features an exhibition titled "Story of the Stones," as well as a café and a gift store. Visit this link for information on when they are open:
