One of the most important cultural symbols of Sardinia are the Nuraghes. These are bullet shaped stone buildings built without mortar. There are many of them in Sardinia. Today we chose to visit one of the most prominent the Su Nuraxi di Barumini.
It was a quick hop from Vilasimius to Barumini. The roads in Sardinia are generally excellent and not crowded. We are enjoying driving here. The only way to visit the site is with a guided tour, which worked out well as we bought our tickets and had time for lunch.
The site of the Nuraghe was excavated in the 1950’s. The Nuraghe itself was visible, but the village surrounding it had been covered over time. It is believed the Nuraghe was inhabited between 1300 and 600 BC when the Carthaginians conquered Sardinia. Some Nuraghe are believed to go back as long as 1900 BC.
The main tower of the Nuraghe at Barumini was approximately 60 feet high. Nuraghe are built without mortar so a building of this height is quite an accomplishment. It is partially collapsed but still quite impressive.
After the initial tower was constructed 4 additional smaller towers were added to the site. The consensus is that the site was a fort, and the village which held approximately 1000 inhabitants was built after the fort.
The inner courtyard has entrance to all five towers and a well that still supplies water today. One of the towers appears to be for food storage, one tower is believed to be the main room for the local VIP, and the rest of the towers were for the garrison.
The site was very impressive. We took the English tour, though we were the only day to day English speakers in our group of about 20. The majority were German or Swiss German speakers, with a Dutch and Ukrainian couple.
After we finished our tour of the Nuraghe it was only 2pm. Initially we planned to stay in a nearby village which has a parking lot where you can buy electricity 6 hours at a time. But as I said earlier the roads in Sardinia are very good and uncrowded so we decided to go ahead and drive the 200 kilometers to our next destination for the trip.
Our initial plan was to use Alghero as our base to explore the north part of Sardinia. But when we checked in we choked on the price. This is the second most expensive campground we have ever stayed in in Europe. So we are rethinking our plans.