Sardinian Road Trip: In Search of Nuraghe

While we were waiting for our new Flexofold folding propeller to come from Denmark, we decided to hire a car and do a bit of a road trip around Sardinia.  One of our main objectives was to see up close and find out more about the Bronze Age Nuraghe towers, which dot the Sardinia countryside.  So off we went in search of Nuraghe.

Bob in front of a nuraghe tower

Not much is known about the Nuragic civilization as no written records have been found.  This culture lasted from the 18^th Century BC until the Romans settled the island around 200BC.  Scholars have pieced together some idea of the Nuragic culture through various artefacts, such as bronze figurines and the subsequent writings of the Romans and Phoenicians.  Their belief system seems to be centred on fertility with the male symbol of the Bull-Sun and the female symbol of Water-Moon.  They mined copper, tin and lead and built furnaces to produce alloys such as bronze which they traded throughout the Mediterranean becoming the main metal producers of Europe at the time.   

 

But by far the most enduring feature of the Nuragic culture are their circular megalithic edifices of Nuraghe towers.  More than 7000 have been found on the island.  (Sardinia is only 24,000 square kilometres which is about one-third the size of Tasmania or about the size of the state of Vermont.  So that is a lot of nuraghe per square kilometre.)  There is some debate about the purpose of these round towers (military strongholds, meeting halls, religious temples astronomical observatories, furnaces, or tombs) but most scholars now agree that they were primarily fortified homes with barns and grain stores.    

We picked up our 4 door Smart car at the airport and headed north.  Along the coastal strip between Oristano and Bosa we came upon our first Nuraghe, the Turre de su Putu, on a small headland jutting out from a small village.  

 

Next stop was Bosa.  Last October we had intended to winter Songster at the marina in Bosa but for various reasons of time, weather and facilities, we decided to keep the boat in Cagliari for the winter.  When we arrived at Bosa we were kicking ourselves for not going with plan A as Bosa is an absolutely delightful town.  It is the only major town in Sardinia that lies along a river, and the River Temo is very pretty indeed.

Bosa marina - so clean and tidy with great views of the town and castle - sigh.....

We had a very nice lunch in one of the many high quality restorantes then set out to explore the town.  Overlooking the town is the 12^th Century Malaspina Castle.  We wound our way up steps and backstreets to the castle.  The views overlooking the town, river and sea were stunning.

The river Temo

Bosa town

 

Whimsical flowerpots in Bosa

We next drove along the coast from Bosa to Alghero.  This road is renowned for its wonderful views and it did not disappoint.

 

 

 We arrived in Alghero in the evening and stayed at the lovely B&B we stayed at in November when we left Sardinia to return to Australia.  We ended up having an early night and leaving the exploration of the town for the morning.  One of the things we wanted to check out was the Cannabis vending machines we saw when we were here in November.  We couldn’t figure out how they existed when marijuana is technically illegal in Italy.  We found the shop and found out that they sell Cannabis lite which contains only 0.2 -0.6% THC, about one-tenth of the potency of ‘normal’ marijuana.  So they can sell cannabis lite products because they will not give anyone much of a buzz.

The shop front to the vending machines

5 grams of 'lite' for 7 euros

Or for the munchies

We left Alghero to travel inland to the Santa Cristina Nuraghe village near the town of Paulilatino.  This Bronze age Nuraghe village contains a sacred well that is in such good condition that it looks like it was built a few years ago.  An isosceles trapezoidal staircase goes down to a well which still holds water.  Above the well is a conical tower (tholos) which every 18 years, one month and two days, the full moon shines directly through the aperture into the well.  At every spring and autumn equinox the sun shines directly down the stairwell into the well water.  The construction and preserved state of this well was truly impressive.

The top of the stairway to the well

Looking up the stair case from the well

The conical tholos over the well - Eileen looking down and Bob looking up

Further along were some moss covered nuraghe and grain storage structures.  The site of this nurgahe village was still inhabited into the middle ages.  The area had a wonderful mystical feel about it.

Nuraghe

Grain storage barn

The ticket to the Nuraghe village included entrance to the ethnographic museum in the town about 5 km away.  This was housed in a lovely old building, the Atzori mansion.  The three story museum was filled with farming implements, household crockery and textiles and most fascinating, examples of special Sardinian bread weaving done for special occasions such as weddings and Easter.

Beautiful woven bread

The church bell tower from the museum terrace

We decided we liked Bosa so much we would spend our second night at a B&B there.  We drove back from Paulilatino via Saint Lussurgiu.  This town is supposed to be located on the rim of an old volcano.  I could not see this geological feature myself but the drive through the country side was very pretty.

View near Saint Lussurgiu

Back in Bosa we settled into our very nice B&B in an old mansion right off the main piazza.  After a great meal and a walk along the river we contentedly went to bed.

Bosa from the Saint Lussurgiu road

Bosa at night along the river

The next day we headed towards Barumini, the site of one of the best preserved nuraghes.  This place was recommended to Bob by his dentist (crowns are half price here in Sardinia so Bob is getting some repair work done on his teeth.).  The dentist also said the town was renowned for its good restaurants.  After a long drive we arrived at the Su Nuraxi nuraghe.  The admission to the site was quite expensive and entry was only by guided tour.  We would have had to wait a half hour for the next tour so we contented ourselves with reading the signage and taking a few snaps through the fence.  

The Su Nuraxi nuraghe

Aerial view of the Su Nuraxi nuraghe

 On to the town for lunch.  Barumini is a sleepy town on a Friday at lunchtime.  Actually that is being kind.  The town seemed more like it was comatose on terminal life support.  We finally found a restaurant that was open.  We were the only customers and had a fairly ordinary meal but the location and staff were very nice.  By now we were ready to head back to Cagliari and Songster.  

We approached Cagliari from the east along its beaches and marshland and were treated to flocks of flamingos feeding.  This was a real treat as for days we have been watching these beautiful birds fly overhead in V formation.  It was a great way to end our road trip.