Be blown away by a civilization that has its roots in the ninth-seventh century. a.c. The village of Barumini, indeed, among the best preserved evidence of Nuraghic. These peoples, that must its name to these structures, They were using the nuraghi, a type of construction of conical shape made with large boulders dry, to defend themselves and live in the Sardinian land. The village of Barumini, UNESCO site since 1997, It is different from other sites in Sardinia for its high central Nurago 18 meters connected through internal salt, tunnels and corridors with other smaller nuraghi on the site. The story begins about Barumini three thousand five hundred years ago on the hill where the old built a dolmen and a small village of huts around it. The nuraghi are the highest architectural and symbolic expression of ancient and modern civilization of Sardinia. outstanding monuments, these buildings halfway between the defense and civilian buildings have survived to this day bearing witness to an ancient culture connected to the megalithic civilization of the Mediterranean basin. The Nuraghic played an important role in the spread of the Mycenaean culture and later of the Phoenician, although some of its peculiarities remain shrouded in mystery, perhaps understandable because foreign to classical Greek culture. The architectural structures are formed by towers in two or three planes in the shape of a truncated cone, realized with very large stones, disposte a secco in cerchi concentrici sovrapposti che si stringono verso la sommità. On Nuraxi Barumini is the example most complete and best preserved dolmen.

Criteria for Admission

The World Heritage Committee decided to include the area in the World Heritage List in 1997 based on the criteria (i), (iii) e (iv), believing that the Nuraghi of Sardinia, of which Su Nuraxi is the main example, represent an exceptional response to specific geographical conditions, social, and existing policies on the island in prehistoric times. They also report the innovative imagination of primitive Sardinian populations on the use of materials and techniques available to a prehistoric island community.

History, art and culture

The story begins about Barumini three thousand five hundred years ago on the hill where the old built a nuraxi 'nuraghe and cresia and a small village of huts around. Here then were built the church sends (today arrocchiale) the late sixteenth and palace 'and the marquis (Zapata house) early seventeenth century. Barumini was called so maybe already origin, because the root of the name bar in the Sardinian language means "cavity", "Trough", as most of the site extends down. Track-up of Roman walls in the town suggest that the agglomeration was one of many "villas" of the Roman latifundia. From the eleventh century Barumini is part of Arborea Judged curatoria whose membership is up to the feudal times that of Marmilla and it is the capital. In 1410 Barumini then passes to the Marquis of Oristano up to 1479, when Sardinia came into possession of the Spanish Crown by the King Ferdinand the Catholic. In 1420 Barumini become feudal capital for real concession to William Raymond of Montecatena. Built later in the actual tax, the estate was sold to Peter Rocalberti. The latter, with the consent of Charles V, sell the barony with Barùmini villas, The Plassas and Villanovafranca Don Azor Zapata, Dean of the City of Cagliari. Barumini with the settlement of the Zapata becomes capital of the barony. It is from this date that takes physiognomy of the town and the urban fabric Barumini know today, with a web of houses of modest workmanship and architectural buildings from the plant complex. Of note are the many arched portals in the whole territory.

Su Nuraxi

nuraghi, symbol of Sardinia yesterday and today, They are the ultimate architectural expression of the ancient island civilization. The interest of archaeologists for these buildings dates from the sixteenth century, but only in the nineteenth century began scientific research. One of the most sensational discoveries was that of Barumini, due to the campaign of excavations by the archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu between 1951 and the 1956. On Nuraxi Barumini is the example most complete and best preserved dolmen, while the complex of these monuments, scattered throughout the territory of Sardinia and exclusive island, It is one of the most important examples of the prehistoric culture of the Mediterranean basin.

Nuraghi in the Bronze Age

The nuraghi were defensive towers in the shape of a truncated cone made with large boulders dry, equipped with lounges and covered with vaulted ceilings in pseudocupola. Some nuraghi, as in the case of Su Nuraxi Barumini, are placed inside enclosures consist of smaller towers, connected by massive walls. The first central defensive structures, dating from the late fourteenth century and the first half of the thirteenth century BC, it seems they were built by families or clans that lived in isolated. Around the end of the Bronze Age, Nuragic society began to evolve in an ever more complex, with a clear tendency towards the hierarchy: the isolated towers were built other architectural structures that held social and defensive functions.

The Iron Age: apogee and decadence

At the beginning of the Iron Age, from the middle of the thirteenth century to the end of the eleventh century BC, period that coincides with the Carthaginian invasion of the island, the defensive systems were reinforced Barumini and populations sought regrouping protection around these massive stone forts. In the most advanced stage, the nuraghe is transformed into a fortified village, in which lives the chieftain or prince who offers protection to the neighboring village,, as in medieval castles, it is home to the people and animals in times of danger. These villages were actually small urban settlements, inhabited by the families of soldiers and craftsmen. During the seventh century B.C.. Su Nuraxi was devastated by the Carthaginians and its defense system virtually destroyed. Nevertheless, the settlement was preserved and the houses rebuilt, albeit with a different style. In the third century B.C.. with the conquest of Sardinia by the Romans, most of the nuraghi were abandoned. But it was not the case of Su Nuraxi: archaeological excavations have shown that the site was inhabited until the third century d.C.

The problems of dating

The precise dates of the nuraghi construction has always been the subject of much debate among archaeologists, also because the data obtained with carbon dating 14 and with the stratigraphy method does not coincide. The main feature of the complex of Su Nuraxi is its massive central tower, built with large stones to dry, ie without the use of a mortar binder which seems to date back to the second millennium before Christ. Inside there are three halls, mail each at a different level and joined by a spiral staircase. Originally the tower was more than 18 meters high. The four side towers are connected by a solid stone wall. On the south side / east a narrow opening at ground level provided access to the courtyard surrounded by the towers. After the door was closed definitively and to enter the citadel it was necessary to make use of a ladder or some other controllable device from the inside. Subsequently, the thick walls of the reinforcing suffered interventions and in the same period was built a second enclosure that surrounded the houses, simple stone structures, the majority of which are of modest size and formed from a single room. Only one is an exception: it is a house with a larger room the other, considered by archaeologists a boardroom, probably associated with some form of community management of the village.