Tharros
on Tina's Journal (China), 08/Sep/2012 09:17, 34 days ago
About half way up the west coast of Sardinia located on the Sinis Peninsula lies one of the most interesting archaeological sites on the Island: Tharros.It is an ancient city founded by the Phoenicians around the end of the 8th Century B.C. I and another Sardinian friend visited it for the first time yesterday and we were quite impressed. Two columns area-TharrosHowever it was the Romans who impressively built the city up for a population between 8,000 -10,000 residents during the Roman age. As you are probably already aware the Romans were efficient engineers. The road system in Tharros was made with basalt rock and more than a metre deep running under the roads was a sewer system which ran straight into the sea. Cardo MaximusThey built many public buildings here and there were at least three thermal facilities plus many water cisterns and water tower. Obviously this particular location would have been strategically important however this part of Sardinia is also very fertile. Interestingly the land around here had previously been settled on prior to the arrival of the Phoenicians by the Nuraghe people. In fact Tharros was originally a Nuragic village as some of the remains can still be seen today.Remains of a NuragheThe Nuragic civilization dates back about 4000 years. There are around 7000 Nuraghe remains all over Sardinia.....my ancestors I suppose!Me a Nuraghe descendent!The views from Tharros are absolutely fantastic with sea on both sides. When we got to the site we were fortunately just in time for a guided tour and were blessed with a visit by a dolphin. This beautiful marine mammal popped up several times just a few metres from the coast and took centre stage. I wasn't able to capture it on camera as he popped up and down too quickly but he did really brighten the day a little more.I found this place to be as interesting as Nora the other Phoenician/Roman archaeological site at Pula about 5 kms from where I live.