A Day of Ancient Nuraghe....and Wild Horses....in Sardinia....
Sardinia was widely settled beginning eighteen centuries B.C. by a mysterious Nuragic civilization. They existed for fifteen centuries, but little is known about them. What is known, is that they built large, domed stone fortresses called Nuraghe, which were surrounded by smaller domed homes. It is estimated that there are over 7,000 Nuraghe in Sardinia, but only a couple of hundred have been excavated. About an hour east Oristano, through pristine countryside and near the village of Barumini, is the Nuraghe called Su Nuraxi. It is one of the more well-known Nuraghe, and visiting it provided us with a day we will long remember....
Without knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we purchased tickets at the welcome center, and met our English speaking guide at the appointed time....
She explained the history of the Nuragic people, how they created working communities, collected and distributed water, and defended their communities. She indicated that we would climb to the top of the Nuraghe, then go inside.... she just didn't mention how we would go inside! The first photo below shows the Nuraghe from about 100 feet away, and then getting closer to see details....
We climbed a sturdy but steep stairway to the top, where the views were amazing....
To enter the Nuraghe, we had to descend on stone steps, through a crevice in the rock, eventually to a steel stair that took us to the interior....
Inside we could see the well they dug which still contains drinkable water. We could walk through narrow crevices to see different rooms... it was pretty amazing...
Now it was time to exit the Nuraghe. We had to go out the way we came it... climbing up steep rock stairs through narrow crevices....
It was an amazing experience, one we will never forget. At the top, we had one last view of the landscape....
A young couple on the tour asked if we had seen the local wild horses... Wild horses...?? No, we had not seen them. They gave us some sketchy info as to where the horses might be, and we set off for another adventure! It turns out the name of the vast refuge where the wild horses roam is called the Altopiano di Giara.... the high plateau of horses. We found the road to it in the beautiful little village of Tuili. The road twisted, turned, and climbed to the top of the plateau.
We found the ranger station, paid 2 euros for a map, and despite the ranger's snicker at our not-so-perfect choice of footwear and his warning about water in the paths, we set off to see the wild horses.
We walked and walked, noted the interesting cork trees, native to this part of Sardinia, that are harvested once every ten years for their thick cork bark.
We followed the map, or at least so we thought. The trails split and got narrower, and the skies were darkening. We saw many piles of horse poop, but no wild horses.
After a couple of miles, we turned around, disappointed. About halfway back, no more that thirty feet from us, three enormous (or so they seemed) wild cows rushed out of the brush and scurried away, right in front of us. We both screamed, and it happened so fast there was no way to get a photo, but this is what they looked like...
At this point, with fear in our hearts and rain imminent, we retraced our steps back to our car, where we sat for several minutes, exhausted and overwhelmed by everything we encountered on this amazing day. An hour drive back to Oristano, and a glass of Passito di Pantelleria capped a day we will not soon forget....
Touch any photo to enlarge....
Without knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we purchased tickets at the welcome center, and met our English speaking guide at the appointed time....
She explained the history of the Nuragic people, how they created working communities, collected and distributed water, and defended their communities. She indicated that we would climb to the top of the Nuraghe, then go inside.... she just didn't mention how we would go inside! The first photo below shows the Nuraghe from about 100 feet away, and then getting closer to see details....
These two photos show the partial interior of a home, where the family would heat water and bathe....
We climbed a sturdy but steep stairway to the top, where the views were amazing....
To enter the Nuraghe, we had to descend on stone steps, through a crevice in the rock, eventually to a steel stair that took us to the interior....
Inside we could see the well they dug which still contains drinkable water. We could walk through narrow crevices to see different rooms... it was pretty amazing...
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| This Nuraghe was excavated in 1951... |
Now it was time to exit the Nuraghe. We had to go out the way we came it... climbing up steep rock stairs through narrow crevices....
It was an amazing experience, one we will never forget. At the top, we had one last view of the landscape....
We found the ranger station, paid 2 euros for a map, and despite the ranger's snicker at our not-so-perfect choice of footwear and his warning about water in the paths, we set off to see the wild horses.
We walked and walked, noted the interesting cork trees, native to this part of Sardinia, that are harvested once every ten years for their thick cork bark.
We followed the map, or at least so we thought. The trails split and got narrower, and the skies were darkening. We saw many piles of horse poop, but no wild horses.
After a couple of miles, we turned around, disappointed. About halfway back, no more that thirty feet from us, three enormous (or so they seemed) wild cows rushed out of the brush and scurried away, right in front of us. We both screamed, and it happened so fast there was no way to get a photo, but this is what they looked like...
At this point, with fear in our hearts and rain imminent, we retraced our steps back to our car, where we sat for several minutes, exhausted and overwhelmed by everything we encountered on this amazing day. An hour drive back to Oristano, and a glass of Passito di Pantelleria capped a day we will not soon forget....
Touch any photo to enlarge....
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