Two Weeks in Sardinia, Part 1

The loud 4 am knock on our ferry cabin door was a harsh welcome to Sardinia. We jerked awake and dressed quickly to pick up our breakfast croissant and espresso coffee with the other blurry-eyed passengers departing at Arbatax, on the central east coast of Sardinia near Tortoli.

Map of Sardinia with the scale at upper left

Daughter Lindsey and I had flown from Minnesota to Rome to meet Darrell for a bicycle ride on the island - but we wanted to see some of the remarkable archaeological sites first! So, after a whirlwind two days in Rome, the overnight ferry, a thankfully open café for more coffee and breakfast pastries, and navigating the local bus to reach our rental car, we were finally on our way to see some of Sardinia's sites.

We headed north, winding around narrow mountainous roads and then dropping down toward the sea. We followed the walking directions to the Grotta del Bue Marino (Grotto of the Monk Seal); however, we really needed a boat! The grotto is a late-Neolithic site with cave paintings. It was probably several meters above sea level at the time it was occupied, but now is best reached from the sea. Our hike was aborted when we our track ended at a too-steep hill down to the water.

Lindsey somewhere above the grotto

We hiked back to the car and a short drive later we successfully found the Giants’ grave of S’Ena’e Thomes. Giants' graves (Tomba dei giganti) are collective tombs, and there are ~800 in Sardinia. We saw a slab type tomb with a central stele containing a door cut through it. If you crawl through the door (or walk around to the back) you can see the burial chamber with a stone cairn laying over a long alley that held the bodies.

    Giants’ grave of S’Ena’e Thomes

Lindsey in front of the burial chamber

We bought some groceries and found our Airbnb in a tangle of narrow roads in central Nuoro. We were lucky to find street parking not too far from the apartment. I'm grateful Darrell does the driving and I can just close my eyes!

Driving narrow streets - note the warning red image on the panel

Background: Nuragic culture dominated Sardinia in the middle Bronze Age, roughly 4,000 years ago, and began declining with Roman colonization around 238 BC. The name comes from the “nuraghe”, a characteristic tower-fortress of the culture. Over 7,000 nuraghes can still be found in Sardinia! The next morning we went looking for a Nuraghe right in town.

Nuraghe in Nuoro - on a hill in the town

Our next stop was the Santa Cristina Archaeological Park, home to a 3,000 year old sacred well and Nuragic village. I'm inserting a photo and information from this website to give you a better perspective on this area.

The stairs down to the well and the hole above the well

 

Stairs going down, note tight masonry

Lindsey's and my feet at well edge

The tholos dome over the well

Lindsey peering through the hole over the well

During the Equinox in March and September, the noon sun lights up the bottom of the well. The rays make it so an observer, descending the last steps, sees two shadows - one is projected on the water and the other descends from the tholos chamber upside down. Pretty crazy.

The well is also aligned with the Moon, reflecting its light in a trapezoidal opening every 18.5 years, which corresponds to the duration of the Lunar Year.

We also toured the Nuragic village at Santa Cristina. 

Nuraghe at Santa Cristina

We continued to the Sinis Peninsula on the central west side of Sardinia and did a quick visit of the Tharros Archaeological site – this one is primarily Roman.

Lindsey at the Roman Tharros Site

On the way out of town we made a stop at the small but mighty Museum in Cabras. The highlight was the ~3,000 year old Nuragic stone statues that literally brought Lindsey to tears.

The Giant's of Mont'e Parma in the Cabras Museum

We dropped the rental car off and taxied to our hotel in Cagliari, the largest city and the capital of Sardinia. We had seen a bit of the archaeology of Sardinia, but there was more to come!

The next morning was the Festival of Sant'Efisio, the patron saint of Cagliari. Folks from all over Sardinia came to the festival, wearing their traditional costumes, playing instruments, singing, and fingering rosary beads. The parade lasted hours and hours, so we snuck out and headed to the museum exhibit of King Tutankhamun's tomb! So more archaeology - though everything here was a replica of course.

King Tut ruled Egypt from 1333-1324 BC

Enough of the past for now! We'll pick up on our bicycle trip in Two Weeks in Sardinia, Part 2.

The Old Town - Den Gamle By

Aarhus, Denmark is a special city in its own right - but inside the city exists an incredible open-air museum that showcases historical buildings collected from around the country in the setting of a functional town with merchants, carpenters, the mayor, and townsfolk. It first opened in 1914 with the Mayor's house and has since grown to encompass time periods from the 1600's to 2014! The buildings are moved into place, brick by brick, and then restored to their past functions.

A peaceful morning before the town comes to life

The town is divided into periods of time. You can enter many of the buildings and explore. I first wandered the most modern street and admired the sunlit view from the kitchen of a family with two children in 2014. I watched an authentic television program from that time period in the living room. 

Time periods are clustered together in the town - 
Note the conveniently labeled streets

The 1945-1974 street also houses the "Aarhus Story" - billed as a 1200-year journey through the city's history, from Medieval times to modernity. It helps set the stage for the time periods explored more thoroughly in this unique museum. The map you receive at entry also guides you through the different time periods and provides more information about each place.

Map of Den Gamle By from their website

At the end of the top street (near the windmill in the map) I entered the Mintmaster's Mansion focused on the life of the Mintmaster's family there in the 18th century. The building history is from 1683 to 2009 when it was moved to the museum, and there are meticulous displays in the attic on how they restored or recreated different time periods - from stairway railings to wallpaper to painted ceilings. It is an homage to all the restorationists that devoted years to honoring both the bones and the frills of this historical building.

The wig room in the mansion

Painted birds on a ceiling in the mansion

My favorite parts of Den Gamle By were the craftsmen/women displaying their talents. I was lucky on the day I visited as there are not always active crafters on site. I was able to watch the blacksmith forge a drawer handle, using period tools and a hand-operated bellows for the coal fire.

A young blacksmith at work

I also watched a carpenter using a wood lathe to make a classic 2-sided cookie cutter.

Carpenter using a treadle operated wood lathe

And then hand-finishing the cookie cutters

And I listened to the tile worker explained how he sourced old tiles (e.g. 160 years old) to replace even older damaged tiles for the roofs of the buildings in the museum.

All the damaged tiles get replaced by "newer" tiles high up on the roof!

The museum employs folks (and also has volunteers) that have stories to tell visitors about their jobs and life during the time period. This is a kitchen maid from the merchant's house in 1865. She was sweeping the kitchen and offered me warm porridge she had made that morning!

The Merchant's kitchen maid in 1865

One of the fun stories from that day was in the soap shop from 1927. I met the granddaughter of the original owner of the shop she was now volunteering in! She had spent much time with her grandmother in the shop. And you can still buy lemon soap and more here now.

The granddaughter (right) grew up in this soap store

 
I spent four hours in the Old Town and could have spent longer! For gardeners, there are a variety of gardens to explore plus the town is right next to the botanic garden. For builders and engineers there are displays on different joints used in construction. For historians, you can learn about how the guilds worked in medieval times and how Denmark's legislation on human rights evolved over time. It's a museum that offers more than just a simple walk through time.

Some of the hipper transportation

Some of the older buildings

And if, after all that, you need a nap - maybe you can displace this poor man from his pull-out bed and catch a few well-earned zzz's. His snoring was quite believable!

A great design for a hide-away bed!