The Nuragic culture of the island of Sardinia developed on the island (and also in neighboring Corsica) from the Bronze Age (around 1700 BC) and lasted until the Roman conquest in 238 BC. It takes its name precisely from the nuragas , the main megalithic structures erected by that culture, since we do not know what they called themselves.
These nuragas , which have no parallel anywhere else in the world, are buildings made of stone in the shape of a frustoconical tower, similar to medieval towers, and with a vault inside as a tholos.
They have no foundations and some reach 20 meters in height and several tons, supporting themselves by the weight of the stones.
They consist of an entrance hall leading to the main chamber, where a spiral stone staircase leads to the upper floors (when there are any, up to three can be superimposed) or to an open terrace. In the most complex, the corridors have two levels and are 27 meters long.
More than 7,000 nuragas have been found built between 1900 and 730 BC, which constitute, according to some specialists, the most advanced set of architecture of the time in the western Mediterranean. But it is not very well known what role they played. Many are located in strategic locations, such as hills and promontories, suggesting that they may have been fortresses, rulers' residences, temples, dwellings, or perhaps a combination of all these things.
The researchers Juan Belmonte and Mauro Zedda, who in 2002 measured the declinations and azimuths of the entrance of 272 nuragas , found that the alignments remained constant throughout history between -43º and -45º, suggesting that they may be oriented to the star Alpha Centauri.
Of all the nuragas the most impressive is the one called Su Nuraxi , located in the municipality of Barumini, about 50 kilometers north of the capital Cagliari, and at an altitude of 238 meters.
The complex was built between the 17th and 6th centuries BC, evolving from a central tower of basalt blocks with three superimposed chambers that reaches 18.6 meters in height. A staircase built between the walls of the tower gives access to the upper floors. At the end of the Bronze Age (around the 13th century BC) another four towers were added, forming a quadrilobed structure, and joined by a wall.
The entrance to this quadrilobed bastion, located on the southeastern canvas, gave access to a crescent-shaped patio with a well, which connected the rooms of the four towers. These were made up of two superimposed cameras that did not communicate with each other. During the Iron Age the entire complex was surrounded by an outer wall 3 meters thick with another 7 towers, giving it a heptalobulated appearance.
Around Su Nuraxi During the Bronze Age, a village of cabins was established, whose population ranged between 100 and 1,000 people, made in a circular shape with large boulders covered with stone walls and conical roofs made of wood and branches. By the 9th century B.C. even a sewage system, a square and paved streets were built. The whole place was destroyed in the 6th century BC, until the Carthaginians arrived and restored it.
After the Roman conquest of the island in the 2nd century B.C. the majority of nuragas they stopped being used. However in Su Nuraxi There is evidence that the place remained inhabited until at least the 3rd century AD.
Su Nuraxi it was excavated by its discoverer, the archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, between 1950 and 1957, bringing to light numerous remains such as tools, weapons, ceramics, jewelry and other artifacts that are exhibited in the nearby local museum. Currently you can enter inside the nuraga by reservation (on the Parco della Giara website) and through a guided tour.