The 'palace' of the Valley of the Nuraghi
In the Valle dei Nuraghi, the "Valley of the Nuraghi", near Torralba in the province of Sassari, a plain dotted with dozens of nuragic towers, stands the Nuraghe Santu Antine, one of the largest and most impressive in Sardinia, called by the locals "Sa Domo de su Re", the "House of the King". Its name comes from Saint Antine, the local name for the emperor Constantine, venerated in Sardinia.
Built around the fifteenth century BC, it consists of a central tower, originally about 25 metres high and today about 17.5, one of the highest nuragic towers ever built, made of huge blocks of basalt, surrounded by a triangular bastion with three corner towers connected by walls. What is most impressive is the interior: the central tower had three superimposed floors, each with a chamber covered by a tholos vault, connected by spiral staircases in the thickness of the walls, and the bastion encloses a courtyard with a well and long corridors with ogival roofs and slits, among the most spectacular examples of nuragic architecture. Around the nuraghe are the remains of a village of huts. In the village of Torralba, the Museo della Valle dei Nuraghi del Logudoro displays finds from the area and a model of the nuraghe.
Tip: climb to the top of the central tower for the view over the valley; in the area there are other nuraghi and the Romanesque church of Nostra Signora di Cabu Abbas.
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