{"id":9815,"date":"2019-09-27T22:57:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T22:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/377project.com\/?p=9815"},"modified":"2021-01-07T14:09:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T14:09:04","slug":"296-377-nuragus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/377project.com\/en\/296-377-nuragus\/","title":{"rendered":"296\/377: Nuragus"},"content":{"rendered":"

INSPIRATION<\/h4>\n
\"Nuragus\"
Nuragus roofs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally an easy and smooth journey. I leave the countryside of Nurallao<\/a> on a beautiful day and, aiming for the Giara di Gesturi<\/strong>, from now my new geographic companion for a few weeks. I quickly arrive in Nuragus where Simona is waiting for me. We met this summer at the Time in Jazz Festival. She lives in Oristano<\/a> but today she is here to host me in her family home and take me around the village and its territory.<\/p>\n

After leaving bikes and luggage in Simona’s historic house, which is also open to visitors during the days of events due to its beauty given by an excellent restoration that has preserved its original characteristics, we get in the car to go and visit of sites outside the village.<\/p>\n

\"Nuragus\"
Water pump at the Sant’Elia church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We arrive at the country church of Sant\u2019Elia<\/strong>, built in the 11th century but then restored several times, with three portals in the facade and a beautiful bell gable. In the square there is an old pump well still working and Simona and I take the opportunity to put it into operation and freshen our heads.<\/p>\n

\"Nuragus\"
At the Coni sacred well<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From here we move towards a jewel of archeology, the sacred well of Coni<\/strong>, which takes its name from an old medieval village. Although there are no other structures around the cavity, the opening of the well and the stairway that descends into the chamber are in excellent condition, a very refined construction with very smooth basalt blocks.<\/p>\n

Not far from here are the remains of the Roman city of Valentia<\/strong>, or Valenza, an important checkpoint on the road that connected Cagliari with Olbia. Here we are between Sarcidano and Marmilla, a border area between the plain and the mountains inhabited by the Civitas Barbariae<\/em>. The inhabitants of Valentia were mentioned by Pliny the Elder, in his work Naturalis Historia<\/em>, and by Ptolemy, in his Itinerary<\/em>. After the city was destroyed by the Vandals, a village was born, curiously called Ruinas, but which was later abandoned due to the plague and the inhabitants spread to the other towns of Marmilla.<\/p>\n

\"Nuragus\"
My host Simona at the Nuraghe Milanu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From here we move on to the Nuraghe Milanu<\/strong>, a massive four-lobed building on a hill. We walk in the countryside to get under it, and among our feet we happen to find some ceramic finds. I am always amazed at how easy it is, rummaging in the land of certain archaeological sites, to still find shards of pottery, almost always Roman, but some would swear that some finds I have seen are Nuragic.<\/p>\n

We stay here for a while to contemplate the view, the town of Nuragus, the Giara di Gesturi, and Genoni where I will be tomorrow, with its hill of Santu Antine. Back in the village we retire home for lunch. Simona makes me find a welcome cake that will be my partner for the next breakfasts!<\/p>\n

\"Nuragus\"
Welcome 377 cake!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the afternoon I meet Marco, an engineer in the Municipality, a contact given to me by a friend. Marco, together with his son Francesco, takes me on a tour of the historic center. We start from the Town Hall square, where once there was the church of Santo Stefano<\/strong> and the cemetery, but which was demolished in the 1950s. Before that, where the elementary school is now, there was a nuraghe. Too bad that a town with this name no longer has traces of its \u201curban\u201d nuraghe!<\/p>\n

\"Nuragus\"
Santa Maria Maddalena Parish church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We walk to the Parish church of Santa Maria Maddalena<\/strong>, inside which there is a beautiful statue of Sant\u2019Elia, and continue through the alleys, where there are many ancient houses with courtyards. Here in Nuragus, too, the rate of centenarians per inhabitants is very high. Two sisters lived in one of these houses who reached the age of 107 and 109 respectively!<\/p>\n

\"Nuragus\"
Old Carboni Boy mill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We arrive at Sa Cruxi<\/strong>, an open space where there is a stone column with a cross. A lady emerges from the door of the house next door and Marco makes her tell the story of the cross, which was found in a beam of her house and then returned to the community. Then we return to Via Roma along the now abandoned building of the mill<\/strong>, which belonged to the noble Carboni Boy family, and where it was taken to grind wheat from all the surrounding villages.<\/p>\n

\"Nuragus\"
Old Carboni Boy mill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before returning to Simona’s house, Marco takes me to the slopes of the Giara di Gesturi<\/strong>. Nuragus is not part of the municipalities that share the top of the plateau, and yet it has a part of the slope on which we go back by car. The vegetation begins to become luxuriant, and while the sun is setting on the other side, I admire the village below that begins to be covered by the shadow of this imposing basaltic plateau.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

SOUND FRAGMENTS<\/h4>\n\n