Tiscali: Visiting the Nuraghic Past of Sardinia
Throughout Sardinia you’ll see stone structures that were constructed by an ancient Sardinian culture known as the Nuraghics. This culture dates back over 5000 years and predates a lot of cultures including the Romans, Greeks, Phonecians, etc. I was dying to visit a nuraghic site and (be careful what you wish for) one of my relatives took up the challenges: we trecked into the mountains to visit a village called Tiscali. Even though the guide book indicated that the village was a one hour hike into the past, it’s really a two hour hike over some fairly rough terraine. The adventure was worth it.
We knew it was going to be a long day when we saw the starting point of the hike. This was one challenging hike up some rocky paths. It was a fairly hot day as well.
When we reached the archealogical site, it was all worth it. Tiscali was discovered by woodcutters over a century ago. It has only been recently that the site was studied. An on-site guide explained that the nuarghic people who inhabited this settlement would have found it to be a virtual paradise: there was ample food, water and isolation from enemies. The stone houses were arranged inside a huge crater-like pocket in the mountain.
My cousin’s husband, Lelio and my wife pose here after the trek. It was a wonderful adventure and an unexpected bonus to our vacation.
