Cagliari

Today we drove to Su Nuraxi, the site of a Bronze Age civilization in south central Sardinia.  I first read about this site from an article that I read in my Norwegian class.  The site is amazing in its complexity.  I will let Tom tell you the details in his pictures.

From Su Nuraxi we drove to Cagliari.  We are staying at a Holiday Inn – a nod to American influence in the region – our last stop before we start for home.  We will have a day of R&R before starting the 2-day return trip.

On the drive down the island we passed some lovely vistas.  (Notice the windmills - today we visited a little bit of a lot of history)

Our main stop was here.  This site was originally built in about 1500 BC.  The town consisted of 200 houses and four guard towers - the largest of which rose about 60 feet.  It was inhabited continuously until about the 5th century.

Looking to the west the site is close by these remains of an 11th century castle.

There are hundreds of these villages scattered around the island - although this one is the largest.  This "house" is typical of many of the dwellings.  It had a large rock water bowl in the center, a carved rock arch for a door, and round rock walls.

Within the towers are a number of round rooms with arched ceilings about 15 feet high.  These were most likely used for sleeping, weapons, and ceremonies (I'm not sure which Sandy is engaged in here).

Here is a look from the top of the tower.  The 200 houses were laid out in a ring around the towers.  The streets are so narrow I had to walk sideways to fit in most of them.

There were special items found in a number of the houses to indicate their uses.  This one was most likely a bakery.

The "roads" meander all around the place making it hard to walk through the village.

In the next town we stopped to visit this church.  It was built in 1540 by the local Lord who had been appointed by the Spanish monarch - Spain ruled the island then.  (Interesting - 20th century wind mills, 14th century BC ruins, 11th century castle, 16th century church!)

Looking back we have driven in four countries - on both sides of the road - and on medieval roads barely wider than the car, on windy roads, mountainside roads, narrow country lanes, in busy cities, etc. -- thank you GARMIN for always being there!!  (We also have been on trains, planes, boats, buses, taxis, vans, hiking, ... )