Memories of ancient merchants

Antica citta di Tharros - Cabras
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Memories of ancient merchants

From Sinis to the southern beaches, through the ‘market towns’ founded by the Phoenicians, strategic bases for commercial traffic and places of contact with the last Nuragic civilizations
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the meeting between the sea peoples and the native people

From the 9th century BC, Sardinia was also involved in the commercial expansion of the peoples commonly referred to, in the western Mediterranean, as Phoenicians. Born as trading emporiums, the settlements that arose on the coasts of the Island - or not far from them - evolved into thriving towns that, starting in the 6th century BC, fell under Carthaginian rule and then under that of Rome. Some, which developed into modern residential areas, still exist today. Between the Phoenicians and the Nuragic communities - whose civilisation was coming to an end - there were apparently no clashes: the towns in the itinerary were examples of multiculturalism, mutual exchange, knowledge and peaceful coexistence.

The journey going almost three thousand years back in time starts on the central-western coast, alternating between the sea and the inland area in Sulcis and ends on the marvellous coasts of Chia and Nora.

Itinerary: 250 kilometres

Road travel time: four hours

Tharros, Cabras

The itinerary starts at the southern end of the Sinis peninsula, between Capo San Marco and the hamlet of San Giovanni. Tharros is one of the best examples of the ‘evolution’ of a settlement over the centuries. The very first traces are Nuragic, while the necropolises and tophets can be traced back to the Phoenicians, after which the city fully developed in the Punic era and especially in the Roman period. Walking through its streets while looking at the sea is an unforgettable experience.
shutterstock_49862560_tharros_p.basilico
Ancient city of Tharros
One of the most important and evocative archaeological legacies in the Mediterranean is located on the southern tip of the Gulf of Oristano, in...
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Monte Sirai, Carbonia

The itinerary descends 140 kilometres southwards. The archaeological park of Monte Sirai is located on top of a mountain. The position guaranteed the Phoenician city, which was later Punic, control over the sea. The ‘civilised’ area, which developed around the temple of Astarte and was fortified to the north in the 3rd century BC, and the funerary areas are separate. The mysterious symbol of Tanit appears in a Punic tomb, while the tophet is more ‘detached’, to the north-west. The city you’ll be visiting is the Punic one, while Rome built further downstream.
monte_sirai
Monte Sirai
In Sulcis, the southwestern part of Sardinia, there is an archaeological site, surrounded by fragrant mountain greenery, that dates back to the 8th...
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Sulki, Sant'Antioco

One of the oldest Italian cities, possibly the oldest one ever. Sulki was founded on the Gulf of Palmas in the 8th century BC, just before Monte Sirai. The workmanship of several pans in the tophet provides clues about the productive ‘collaboration’ between the Phoenicians and the Nuragic people. In the Punic era, the city recovered strength: the necropolis, with thousands of graves, is one of the largest in the Mediterranean. Close to the Savoy fortress, you can admire the acropolis, where the two lions now kept in the MAB museum were once located.
Tofet - Sant'Antioco
Ancient City of Sulki
This enviable position, on an island to the far south-west of Sardinia, has attracted a range of civilisations since prehistorical times; here, the...
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Bithia, Chia - Domusdemaria

‘Route’ heading south-east, just over sixty kilometres to get to the splendid beaches of Chia. The remains of the ancient city of Bithia can be found around the easternmost beach, that of Su Portu. It was a thriving Phoenician port that was also conquered by the Carthaginians and then by the Romans. To see the meagre traces of it, you can explore the slopes of the promontory on which the tower of Chia stands, while the Phoenician tophet and a Punic temple may have been located on the islet of Cardulinu, which you can get to on foot.
Rovine di Bi
Ancient city of Bithia
An archaeological legacy thousands of years old, which has not yet finished telling us its secrets, lies on the southwestern coast of Sardinia, 50...
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Nora, Pula

The remains of the city of Nora, 19 kilometres north-west of Chia, are much more evident. A short distance from the small church of Sant’Efisio, the arrival point of the most impressive procession on the Island, lies a town ‘recovered’ by the sea. In reality, you’ll be visiting the Roman town, because the Phoenician-Punic buildings were almost completely replaced by the Roman ones, although it was from the tophet that the rediscovery of the thriving port city began. A stele found here displays the name Sardinia for the first time.
shutterstock_313530944_pula_nora_rovine_pashamba.jpg_resize
Ancient city of Nora
A few dozens of kilometres to the southwest of Cagliari lies one of Sardinia’s most important archaeological sites, a prosperous cities, Phoenician...
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