Visiting Santu Antine - Sardinia's king of nuraghi

Writer: Helena Bergström

Visiting Santu Antine in Sardinia is surprisingly exciting. We didn't have high expectations, but afterwards we left full of historical fascination and lots of new knowledge.

Santu Antine in Sardinia

Nuraghi Santu Antine in Sardinia is about 3500 years old. It is one of the largest and most well-preserved nuraghi in Sardinia, which is why it is sometimes referred to as "Sardinia's king of nuraghi".

Santu Antine is located in Torralba, in the north-west of Sardinia.

What is nuragher?

So, what exactly are 'nuragher'? Well, nuragher are massive stone towers, built without mortar, from huge blocks of stone that often weigh several tonnes. These towers are unique to Sardinia, and are found nowhere else in the world in the same form. The towers were built during the Nuragic culture (around 1800 - 500 BC) although some have been modified and used even later. Today there are around 7000 known nuraghi in Sardinia.

But why were nuraghi built in the first place? We don't know for sure, but the leading theories are that they may have been defence towers, residences for chiefs and/or ceremonial/religious sites.

Visiting Santu Antine in Sardinia

As I said, there are many nuraghi in Sardinia and we visited Santu Antine, which is one of the largest and most visited nuraghi. There is even a small visitor centre with souvenirs. And yes, you have to buy a ticket to visit Santu Antine.

We thought at first that 10 euros per person sounded a bit expensive, but that was when we still thought we were just looking at a pile of rocks from the outside. After the visit, we were completely comfortable with the ticket price, which incidentally also gives entry to a museum in the area, which we did not visit.

Santu Antine - a 3500-year-old building

The Santu Antine nuraghe is dated to somewhere between 1600 and 1500 BC, i.e. the middle of the Bronze Age. The building thus dates from a relatively early part of the Nuragic culture, which existed until around the 2nd century BC.

A picture inside the site shows what the magnificent nuraghe might have looked like at the time. It's incredible that they were able to build such mighty structures so many thousands of years ago!

Around the main building there was probably a whole village of dwellings for 'ordinary people'. However, most of it has not been excavated, but is hidden under the surrounding fields.

Santu Antine - a fascinating building

From a distance, the Santu Antine nuraghe didn't look so grand, but when we entered it, we quickly realised how incredibly powerful it is. There is a central main tower and three surrounding towers. Inside the towers there are several rooms on top of each other, which in turn are surrounded by corridors and additional rooms.

It's dizzying to walk around, and in a way it feels like it never ends. There are always new corridors, new rooms, new floors ...

It's also fascinating to see the construction techniques. How did they get the stones in place? And how did they make it so stable? In fact, after 3,500 years of weather, wind and human activity, large parts of the towers are still standing.

The corridors, stairs and rooms feel incredibly solid. For the modern visitor, lights and some railings have been installed. Everything else was built by a Bronze Age civilisation.

There is an inner courtyard with a well and long external walkways with views of the surrounding countryside.

What were the people who lived here like then? How did their society work? What did they think about and what were their dreams? Well, there are many questions that come to mind when you visit Santu Antine...

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

From Santu Antine, you can continue to Alghero, where you can, for example, make a boat trip to the caves of Neptune. You can also go to Stintino, where there are many beautiful beaches (but where it is very crowded to park). In addition, we can recommend a visit to the super nice and charming town of Bosa!

Would you like to visit Santu Antine in Sardinia?

Would you like to visit Santu Antine in Sardinia, or perhaps any of the thousands of Nuraghi on the island? Did you know about the Nuragher culture before, or is it new to you? Do you like history?