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Time Travel
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Barely off the ferry, one is immediately immersed in waves of Sardinian development and colonialisation. Focussing on Phoenician and Nuraghan cultures, this itinerary makes stops in pre-history, the Middle Ages and the XVIIth and XVIII centuries. |
| Porto Torres |
 Of Punic origins with the occasional Phoenician and Carthaginian artifacts, its definitive urban structure gels during the first century B.C., being integrated to the Roman colonies. The Western part of the city has the best preserved of monuments: Palazzo di Re Barbaro is a complex of thermal baths ornate with III century mosaics. Another important Roman work, which is still used today, is the seven-arch bridge over Rio Mannu (going towards Stintino). The San Gavino basilica (XI-XII) is also a must : the prime Sardinian romanic church is curious in that it has no facade and access is on the sides. A few kilometers south-east, one can find the prehistorical sanctuary of Monte d'Accoddi, the only megalithic altar of the Western Mediterranean was used for rituals or for the cult of the dead. The necropolis of Su Crucefissu Mannu is also near Porto Torres. |
| Argentiera |
Leaving Porto Torres for Alghero, a detour towards Argentiera offers a perfect example of industrial archeology of this island: wooden structures and walls used for mining lead and zinc. The Romans were the first to exploit these ressources.
Anghelu Ruju, north of Alghero has an even richer necropolis: 36 structures very similar to houses. |
| Alghero |
 A place where it seems a forteress was given the appearance of a town. Familiar to those used to wandering the streets of Genoa; it was settled in the XIIth century as a commercial base for the Doria family. Catalans also felt at home here, the Aragons having invaded the region in 1355. The dialect spoken to this day is of distinct Catalan origin and street signs are often in both languages. The most impressive monuments are the theatre (not often indicated in travel guides), the church of San Francesco (XIVth), the tower and the three-knaved cathedral, the church of San Michele (built by the Jesuites in the XVIIth, and enriched with baroque structures) and a Middle Ages bridge at the sea's entrance. |
| Capo Caccia |
A detour to Capo Caccia offers undisputable natural beauties, such as the Grotta Verde, as well as the nuragan village of Palmavera, fully blended into its white surroundings, and the ruins of a maritime villa and small Roman port (before Capo Caccia). |
| Sassari |
This ancient city has a distinctly 'italian' flavour, as demonstrated by the baroque Cathedral. Piazza d'Italia, end-XIXth, has a very homogeneous urban fabric. The archeological musem and the church of SS Trinità di Saccargia, 20 km out of town, are also worthwhile. |
Bonorva
Abbasanta |
Some thirty kilometers south, Bonorva offers a complex of three nuraghan towers - Tres Nuraghes. The village is also host to a gothic monument.
 Further down , Abbasanta is the home to Losa nuraghe, one of the greater technical expressions of nuraghan construction: a central three-story tower around which a triangular layout of towers, linked by walls, gradually developped. |
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