An architectural gem and the most impressive in the Valley of the Nuraghi, one of the areas with the greatest concentration of prehistoric buildings in Sardinia. Santu Antine is located in the centre of the Cabu Abbas plain, in the territory of Torralba, and was built between the Middle Bronze Age (16th century) and the Iron Age (9th century BC). It is very large and is made of huge, perfectly shaped basalt blocks which gradually get smaller from the base towards the top of the building. Its masonry is entirely of dry stone. Its central tower is 17 metres high and has a diameter of 15 metres. It originally had three floors and is protected by a trilobed bastion (with three towers). The entrance leads to a passageway where there is a corridor that runs around the rooms and is lit up via nine slits positioned at a regular distance from each other. You will be able to move along the corridor towards the internal spaces. It gives you the impression that the great stones from which its structure is built might collapse at any moment. However, this is not so! They have been able to endure thousands of years, thanks to the Nuragic people's skills in the art of building. From a helicoidal staircase, also lit up via slits, you will reach two rooms on the first and second floors, the first of which is equipped with a counter-seat and two niches. A final flight of steps originally led to the terrace. The square bastion, the side of which is 40 metres long, has two towers at the front and a third one at the back. All three are circular, 6 metres in diameter and contain slits. They are connected to the courtyard by short passageways and to the tower at the back by a long tunnel.
In front of the bastion, there are 14 circular huts, in which the population of the village lived. Some have seats, hearths, partition walls, niches and cabinets, which helps us understand what they were used for. In front of the entrance to the Nuraghe, there is the 'meetings hut' with a seat and a hearth. Beyond the western tower, you will see a large hut with internal spaces delimited by stone slabs.
#SantuAntine #Nuraghe #Torralba #Sardinia
