Italy is popular around the world for its rich history, culture, and abundance of archeological sites. While one should explore the Colosseum, Trevi fountain, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and other popular attractions in the country, some other hidden historic attractions are also worth exploring as they shed more light on other ancient human civilizations. One of such attractions is Su Nuraxi. This impressive fortress is unique to Sardinia and it is one of the oldest archaeological sites in the world. Visiting this impressive structure is an opportunity to witness the skills and architectural knowledge of the Sardinian Bronze Age.
About Su Nuraxi
- Location: Barumini, Sardinia
- Built: Around the 17th century BCE
Sur Nuraxi is a ruin in Sardinia dating back to the 17th century BCE. This period encompassed the Bronze Age Sardinia and is commonly referred to as the Nuraghic civilization. Structures such as this were common during this period in the history of Sardinia. They were known as nuraghe - a type of structure believed to have served as military strongholds, religious temples, meeting halls, or all of these things at the same time. Su Nuraxi was occupied by the Romans in the 2nd century BCE and parts of it were destroyed during this conquest but the fortress still saw human occupation until the 3rd century CE.
Since it was the most popular type of building in Sardinia at the time, many nuraghes were built during the Nuraghic civilization and experts estimate the total number of nuraghe structures built to be up to ten thousand although many of them were destroyed over the years as the civilization saw attacks from other civilizations including the Carthaginian and Roman Empire. The Nuraghic civilization was first conquered by the Carthaginian Empire before it was conquered by the Romans who eventually took control over the island of Sardinia. During Roman rule, much of the Nuraghic civilization fell into extinction. Many of the nuraghe structures also became largely abandoned during this period, but one can still see some of them today. In modern-day Sardinia, there are up to 7,000 nuraghe structures but Su Nuraxi remains the most impressive and most protected one of them which makes it worth an exploration.
Structure Of Su Nuraxi
As with other nuraghe structures in Sardinia, Su Nuraxi is a stone fortress that consists of an 18.5 m tall central tower divided into three chambers. Surrounding the massive central tower is a stone village built much later after the tower and believed to have housed between 100 and 1000 people. Passages in the village are very narrow and they consist of steep steps and walls built with large stones on both sides. These narrow passages run deep into open-roof towers that rise more than 10 meters. Although the highest part of the tower has collapsed, the majority of this complex remains well-preserved despite being built over 3,000 years ago.
A bird’s eye view of this magnificent structure presents a kind of unique sight that just seems like an ancient Nuraghic code or text that experts are yet to find out. Perhaps it represented something religious or cultural in the Nuraghic culture. Regardless of what one might think, there’s certainly more to this structure than meets the eye.
Like many other impressive ruins in Italy, access is allowed into Su Nuraxi and while the view of the outer part of the fortress is impressive, stepping into the ruins feels like going back more than 3,000 years to the Bronze Age of Sardinia before the Colosseum was even thought of being built.
Significance
There is little to no information about the Nuraghic civilization. Much of what is known about the civilization has been attributed to testimonies of foreigners, and they all came much later after the Nuraghic civilization was long extinguished. This makes these structures extremely important as they are tangible evidence of this Sardinian Bronze Age civilization.
For many years, Su Nuraxi - the most famous of these nuraghe structures was buried until it was excavated in the 1950s. Besides revealing the complete structure of the stone tower, the excavation found remains of several other artifacts including weapons, pottery, and tools which were obviously part of the village's daily life. Previous nuraghe structures had been discovered around the area but due to the precise architectural details of Su Nuraxi, it was named the perfect example of the type of unique megalithic architecture unique to the Sardinian Bronze Age.
In 1997, the site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Outstanding Universal Value. While visiting, one can also check out the Casa Zapata Museum which is close to the archaeological site of Su Nuraxi to explore some of the artifacts that were discovered during the site's excavation.