Trek to Teresa di Gallura
Our next vacation spot is the little community of Santa Teresa di Gallura. This town is located at the far norther end of Sardinia and is where we will catch the ferry to go to Corsica is a coupe of days. There’s not a lot of activity here in STG, but there are ruins, ancient ruins from the 18th century BCE! Once we get checked in to our apartment, we’ll plan our trip to these ruins.
Once again using Google maps for directions, it wasn’t very easy to find our apartment. The problem is that GPS drops out in tight spaces, blocked by buildings. Its’ also a problem when tunnels run under the road you’re on. Our navigator had a difficult time determining what street we were on so we did a bit of round and round driving, but we finally found the apartment.
Not much to say about the place. A 1-bedroom, 1-bath with kitchen, dining, and living room combo. Not bad for just the two of us. Settled in and only unpacked a few things since we would be leaving in 2 days. Time to do some exploring.
All-in-one living, dining and kitchen
View from the apartment
We drove out to the ruin site, called “Lu Brandali”, which turned out to be about 5 minutes from the apartment. The town is really small. Parked the Ferrari in a secure spot then walked to the entry and billetta (ticket) office. For the sum of 10EUR, we got 2 senior tickets and access to the online guide for the site. Such a bargain! I think we were probably their only sale of the day, not a sole here except me and the wife, and the ticket agent.
This site is of the Nuragic people. They lived on Sardinia from 18th century BCE to about 238 BCE when the Romans appeared. The site consists of a nuraghe, or cone shaped building, two towers, a “giants tomb”, and a hut village. Most of these ruins have collapsed over time but their walls and interiors are still present.
The “Giants Tomb” was a burial site for multiple persons, not for giants, sorry. Several remains were found here, both male and female, along with artifacts from their daily lives. The tomb is in the shape of an upside-down ship, made entirely of rock, and with a curved entryway. The burial chamber is about 30’ long and is believed to have been 3-6’ tall. According to the archeologists here, they don’t believe there was any status associated with the remains found in the Giant’s Tomb.
Entrance to the Giant’s Tomb
The other buildings were gathered in small groups, except for the village, based on the type of manufacturing performed inside. One group was for pottery, one for linens, even one for smelting bronze, tin, copper, and other metals. The village had numerous “homes” with food storage areas inside, some with a fire ring. Outside each individual hut was an area where archeologists have found animal bones and trash helping to determine what the people ate.
Area where bones and trash were found.
Manufacturing area with three sections
Hut used in linen manufacturing
Metal working hut with fireplace
Pottery hut
The tower.
The two towers found at this site were believed to be for protection of the village. More towers are believed to be in the complex but have not been uncovered. The site is still undergoing discovery and excavation.
From here we took a quick drive to the far north end of Sardinia to check out Torre de Longonsardo. Built in 1577 at the direction of then King of Spain, Phillip II, the tower was part of the coastal protection system against the Saracens and Berbers. On a clear day, you can see Corsica from the top of the tower.
Longonsardo Tower
Corsica from Longonsardo Tower
Santa Teresa di Gallura from the tower
