Nuraghe Loelle is at a cross roads; diagonally opposite it, right up against the (minor) road, you'll find the first tomba di gigante associated with the settlement here.
It's a tiny little one! Yet impressive. The esedra consists now of 5 stones, pale at the bottom and grey at the top, with a distinct bench along the front as we'd seen at many of sites.
The corridor leads back towards the road, its inner edges well defined but the outer part of the tomb only really visible on its right hand side.
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From Loelle I, there's a track into the woods with a series of stones set upright to mark the way. It's 215 paces to the second tomb - the grid reference might by slightly off, but the path takes you there. It's hidden in the trees, and is difficult to photograph!
You approach the rear of the tomb first, but round the front it's possible to make out at least the left hand wing of the esedra. The corridor is clearly defined with an end stone in place.
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By this point in our trip, we were fairly well "nuraghe'd out" and had ignored many over the previous few days. They are everywhere! But this is a curious construction.
It's built into a rocky outcrop, and there's a side entrance to a cave underneath.
The main entrance leads to stairs winding round to the right, and reaching the first floor level above the doorway. A second flight goes up to the top, and a passage way ahead leads to a room with two niches in the wall, and then a very impressive second flight of stairs back down again - leading currently nowhere, but possibly a way into the now inaccessible main chamber of the nuraghe.
Climbing to the top gives a great view of the rest of the settlement, and the cows grazing in the field.
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On the 389 from Bitti to Budduso, you can't, and indeed shouldn't, miss this one.
The site has good information boards and the section further from the road has stone tables and benches, ideal for a picnic.
There's the remains of round huts around the nuraghe, the nuraghe itself - stunning! - and two tombas to be found here.
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There's a signpost from the main road, and then another one at a bend with a side turn only a few metres later. Then nothing. We drove on, through a flock of sheep across the road, and on, and eventually found someone to ask. He directed us back to Borore instead of his local tomba! A quick U turn, and back through the sheep again. We stopped again at the sign, and turned again, determined to find it. Back through the sheep, but this time we took a side turn to the left and parked just before the stream. The field in front of us had a rocky plateau with some ruined buildings, but not what we were looking for - so we set of up the lane on foot. Beardy went left and I went straight on, and found someone to ask. "Scusi, io non parlo Italiano. Dove è tomba di gigante Uore?" He didn't know, or I couldn't understand. So back to the car and back through the sheep.
Now, turn to page 444 of your copy of TME; the middle image is Uore. Now located by the power of Wikimaps. We should have been on the other side of the road, but only metres away. Pah!This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
There's an impressive high bastion wall adjoinging the nuraghe. It's very overgrown, but you can make out the upper level of the tower, and in the undergrowth, what appears to be the top of the entrance into its lower level.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
An impressive looking monotower nuraghe north west of Sedillo. It's 8.2m tall with a diameter of 14m.
My research notes describe it as being constructed from red basalt; the easterly entrance has a niche to one side and steps to the left leading to the (destroyed) upper level, and leads through to a prefect tholos chamber (5.3m diameter, 7m tall) with 3 niches arranged to form a cruciform with the entrance passage.
However, the field and particularly the area around the nuraghe had the largest, most brutal, thistles we'd seen so far, so we viewed from a distance but had a look around the field and the vicinity to see if we could see its associated tomba - we couldn't.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
On the opposite side of the road is a large gate to the nuraghe and the village which surrounds it. The village huts are a more recent discovery, and the best preserved one can be seen by taking the path between the two roped off sections of village towards the trees north of the nuraghe.
The nuraghe itself is of mixed type (part tholos, part corridor). Through its entrance on the south eastern side, there's a tholos chamber with an impresive niche in the facing wall. To the left, the stairs to the rest of the building have been roped off as it's unsafe due to landslides.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
Smaller than tomba B, but better preserved, this grave is only metres away with an incredible view over the lake.
The esedra is over 11m wide, and its stones are leaning forward towards the lake. The broken centre slab has a portal hatch 70cm x 55cm. The funery corridor (inside dimensions 4.7m x 0.8m) is perfectly formed and the rear of the grave has the same style of curved stones as its neighbour.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
For the modern ticket / info huts, the first thing you see is the perfect curves of the back of tomba B - and the amazing view over Lake Omodeo. The lake however was created around 1920 with a dam across the Tirso, so the original vista would have been over the valley, with its numerous nuraghe, some of which reappear when the water level is low.
The corridor is about 10m x 1.4m and is paved with huge stone slabs. The grave is impressive but not well preserved; in the small copse of trees there are several huge pieces of carved stone which once belonged to it.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
This group - consisting of 2 tomba di gigante, a nuraghe and village around it, a dolmen and a domus de janus - is just west of Sedillo, and is signposted from the town.
I was rather excited about what we'd find here, and in the vicinity, and hoped that there would be someone around to ask ..... there are 3 huts which look distinctly like a visitors' centre, ticket hut, and toilets, respectively, but not a soul in sight. No notices either, but I assume an entrance fee is payable.
From the parking area, the two tombs are to the south, overlooking Lake Omodeo, the nuraghe and village to the north, but the domus de janus and dolmen remain a mystery to us.
My notes said that the domus de janus - Ispiluncas - consisting of 34 tombs - is "on the slopes of the hill where the nuraghe rises" and my Google Earth map showed it on the slope below the info/ticket huts. I had a grid reference for the dolmen - the wrong grid reference! - and a description of its location "the monument is found to the right of the nuraghic complex".This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
Right next to Tomba A you find what's probably the most famous feature of the site - the 6 betili.
They were recorded by Count Albert de la Marmora but his notes give different positions, so they may well not be in their original place.
The 3 to the south represent the female figure, with obvious carved breasts; they are also taller, at just over 1.5m, than the males (1.23m - 1.38m) to the north. All are cone-shaped basalt.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
The largest and most impressive of the 3 tombas, also known as "Betyls' Grave" due to its proximity to the 6 menhirs (betyls or betili).
As at tomba B, there's a bench along the esedra - this time its maximum width is over 20m. The total length is over 22m, and the burial corridor itself is 9.5m x 1.3m.
The thick walls are actually 2 walls with the cavity between them filled with rubble and earth.
The entrance to the corridor has a stone with a round cornered rectangle carved out of it - only one side remains, but it appears to be the portal to the grave.
The information boards show a reconstruction - a tomba made from courses of stone as we'd seen at Mura Cuada rather than those with a stele as at Coddu Vecchju.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
The second grave, tomba B, is more impressive than the first. Though ruinous, it's easy to see the esedra, or winged forecourt, with a width of 14.5m. The corridor is paved with square stone slabs.
The whole tomb is almost 17½m long, and has a long low bench surrounding out. Finds from inside date it similarly to tomba C.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
As you go up the hill to Tamuli, the first tomba, known as tomba C, is to the right.
It's the smallest of the 3 here, and is irregular in shape. It's hard to work it out, but there is a narrow corridor, and the front of the grave has a paved forecourt but is missing the typical esedra. Remains found outside it have dated it to 1500 - 1200 BCE.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
Signposted from nearby Macomer, this is a complex site. The grid reference given is for the car park / ticket hut; each of the main elements is being listed as a subsite.
Ticket hut, tardis-style portaloo, list of prices (5 euros / 3½ euros), but no opening times and no one in sight. The posters did warn that anyone entering outside the opening times did so at their own risk and if found there, would be liable to pay the entrance fee. Fair enough! We climbed the gate and followed the track up the (gentle) hill.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 trip 3" |
Nuraghe Losa is just south of Abbasanta, alongside, and signposted from, the SS131, though on a convoluted junction.
As you pull off the slip road, there's a building 50m or so to the right; this is the ticket hut, but also shop, bar etc. It's managed by Cooperativa Paleotur, and costs 3½euros to enter (reductions available). Open 09:00 - 19:00 (17:00 in winter). For once, my attempt at Italian was answered in English, and tickets and info leaflets in hand, we walked back to the turning and up the track to the main gate, about 200m in total.
The complex is enclosed by a wall, ovoid in shape and approximately 300m x 200m. Just past the gate, there's an exhibition of funery urns to the left, gathered from all over the site; Beardy found loads more of these in the long grass behind the museum huts. The track takes you through the south east entrance; there are 3 more - one opposite, and two with oval towers at the apices of the ramparts. A village within the enclosure, thought to be late Bronze Age, has only been partially excavated.
But the main attraction is the nuraghe itself. It's a trilobate structure, with huts and a curtain wall surrounding it. The upper floor has collapsed, but it's still an impressive 13m high.
The main entrance is almost hidden by a round hut (Cap 1 on the plan) with several niches and recesses in its wall. In the actual nuraghe, there's no central courtyard at we'd seen at Santu Antine, instead there's chamber C to the right and chamber B to the left. Going straight ahead, there's a niche to the right with a flight of steps opposite it, then on through to the main tholos chamber with 3 wall niches, one opposite the entrance and the others on the opposite sides, forming a cross shape.
The third smaller tower can only be reached from the small northerly entrance. It as a (gated and locked) stairway that connects back over the summit of the nuraghe.
The stairs are worn to more of a sandy uphill track, clockwise round the main tower. The smaller towers, E and F on the plan, and their connecting wall, are thought to be a later addition.
There's a modern hut in the south of the enclosure with an exhibition of finds from here and other local sites.
The site has been dated to as early as 1400 BCE; it was investigated in 1898 and again in 1915, but the main excavation and restoration works were carried out between 1970 and 1976.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 - day trip 2" |
As you enter the field from the gate, the tomba is hidden - the back of it is in the nearby clump of trees, slightly to the right. It's very overgrown!
The stele is only half the size of many we'd seen, but has the relief carving around it. The corridor is long, and unusual in that it curves slightly. There's one capstone left, currently about 3/4 of the way along the corridor, though that may not be its original place.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 - day trip 2" |
Having turned off the old main road, it's about 900m up the winding track to the level crossing, with very handy spot to park. Now, in TME, JC suggests "turn right and walk along railway line 355 paces".
No! The line is in use; two trains went past while we were there!
Instead, go over the level crossing and follow the continuation of the track for 400 paces (OK, my paces are probably somewhat shorter than his!) to a gate with a crude wooden sign. Go into the field and turn to the right. Climb up towards the railway line, and the tomba will become visible, right up against the line and slightly to the right of your position.
Most of the tomba that we'd seen so far had a stele, or central stone, with a portal carved in it, flanked with orthostats making the curved facade, or esedra, of the tomb. But here, the construction is coursed masonry.
It's in a good state, considering its proximity to the railway line, though a little overgrown. The tomb is over 10m long, and the width of the esedra is similar. Beardy climbed right inside - the chamber is long and narrow, but tall enough to stand up in.This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 - day trip 2" |
A coachload of school children were at the well itself, so we wandered over to look at the hut beyond - a meeting hut due to the stone seat round the inside - and waited until they had gone to be able to fully appreciate the site.
Wow!
An elliptical wall 26m x 20m, from the late Bronze Age, encloses the well temple. It's in 3 parts - a foyer, the steps, and then the well chamber itself.
The 24 steps are perfect. Smooth basalt, narrowing, creating a trapezoidal shape, echoed by the graduated ceiling, leading down to the well chamber.
The chamber itself has a bottle-like cross section, with the centre circular opening being about 50cm deep. The whole chamber is over 7m high and about 2.5m in diameter, again with perfectly smooth basalt blocks making a tholos style ceiling.
The water level was quite high, covering the step round the edge of the chamber.
Finds here have included a bronze ship figure, dated to 7th century BCE; the site is thought to be around 1000 BCE.
What an incredible place!This post appears as part of the blog post " Sardinia 2 - day trip 2" |
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Yorkshire based stone searcher and Cope music fan with intentions to be tidy and green, and with a fondness for baking.
Married to Beardy - at Castlerigg - and honeymooned round Perthshire, Aberdeenshire, and the Western Isles.
Recently taken to European excursions.
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