sals

From the D903 less than 1km west of Lithaire, there’s a road south, with a signpost advertising paintballing and other leisure pursuits; continue for 1km straight ahead, and you’ll find a parking area to the left with map boards and a toilet block to the right.

Taking the track between these two, there’s a kids playground and picnic area, and the path leads to the (filled in quarry) lake, with pedallos on it and some kind of shop/cafe (closed).

From here, it’s a short but steep climb up woodland steps – so not suitable for the less mobile – and a right turn will lead you to the clearing with two allées couverte, this and Bois de la Plesse south.

About 500m in total, car park to site.

The information board mentions 3 allées, only two of which are visible here. The first, northern one, is quite ruinous, with 3 upright stones at its eastern end but other fallen ones showing the length of the chamber to have been about 9m.

At the northern end of the village of the same name is a signpost to this site; it’s 3.4km to the field track, signposted all the way. It’s then about 150m up the track and the monument can then be seen 50m away to the left, in the field.

Our first French allée couverte!

It’s about 20m long, running north-south; there’s an information board with a map of nearby sites on the western side but the east side is overgrown with brambles and the sweetcorn in the field was planted right up to its edge when we were there.

Excavations and restoration were carried out 1968-1971 and finds included pottery and flint tools.

There are 6 huge capstones in place, creating a corridor with a cross section of about 1.5m square.

The nuraghe at Tamuli is on a high point beyond the 3 tombas and the betili. It’s surrounded by huts, the most impressive of these being at the end of the path beyond the nuraghe.

The nuraghe itself, we were warned on the info boards, is unsafe due to landslides, and it has been roped and fenced off.

From the fork in the road, it’s just over 250 metres, and just past a house on the right, to the field the dolmen is in on the left. The signpost was lying in the long grass – Beardy picked it up and put in on the wall – but an info board (a little too weary from the sun to be of much use) confirmed we were in the right place.

No one had been here for a while, from the height of the grass and wild flowers!

It actually took us quite a while to find the dolmen ..... from the road, there’s a narrow strip before the field opens out. From the end of this strip, there are two distinct clumps of trees ahead – go between them and look for a stone kerb on your left. There’s a rocky outcrop at the end of the kerb, and I spotted, buried in the grass, a bright yellow “DOLMEN” sign. Look to your left and you should see the capstone.

From the crossroads, it’s about 800m to the dolmen. You should be able to see it in an enclosure to the right of the road, not long after a 90 degree bend. Just after you think you’ve passed the dolmen, there’s an information board and a gate to the enclosure.

There’s another info board within – shot up! The dolmen itself has 4 supporting stones, though the capstone only appears to rest on 3 of them. The capstone is huge – well over 2ft thick.

Our first tomba of the day, and an unusual one in that is has two pairs of side cells off its corridor. The entrance to the tomba is away from the road, though the back has fallen so you can see right the way through.

The right hand wing of the esedra has been lost in the field; the left side forms part of the field boundary.

The info board showed a tomba in the field directly opposite, but we couldn’t spot it and didn’t investigate too closely as there were numerous dogs barking at us from the farm next door, but as usual no one in sight for us to ask.

From Nuraghe Miuddu, head to the gate where you enter the field and then the corner beyond it. Follow the edge of the field south – there’ll be a hedgerow to your left – and climb the (low) wire fence at the end. Now clamber over the big rocky outcrop to the right. The tomba is on the slope just below and to the right a bit.

Quite ruinous, with a bush growing right in front of the centre of the esedra. There’s one capstone still in place – the views from here are incredible!

If you are heading west on the 129 towards Macomer, this is what you’ll find at the first junction you come across for Birori.

There’s no way in; there are two collapsed small tholos rooms on its south side, so the chances are it’s at least a trilobate if not quadrilobate structure.

There are some village huts visible in the long grass around the nuraghe too.

Wow! Until visiting Santa Cristina I’d not been to any holy wells anywhere, and much as that one had impressed me with its sharp lines, this just, well, words just about fail me to describe how stunning this place is.

Check out the pictures!

The well itself is a tholos construction with steps up – to a long passage guarded by betili, with steps / seats to the left and a bank to the right with a path along the top – and leading on to the most spectactular amphitheatre with banked seating all the way round and a clearing beyond that.

Was water brought to the waiting “congregation”, or was a journey made from the amphitheatre to the well? Which ever way, the passage had an electric sensation about it ....

By far, my favourite place of the trip. I could have spent hours here.

The third temple at Romanzesu is different in that it’s rectangular (you’d never guess from its name!) with its entrance half way along one of its longer sides. It’s in the lower part of the site, in the trees to the right as you head towards the well.

Temple B is of the same construction as Megaron Temple A, and is a short walk up the path behind it. It’s almost surrounded by cork oaks and is right next to a huge rocky outcrop.

The first megaron temple is near the entrance and sacred enclosure. It has a vestibule and then the main room with an L shaped stone bench round 2 walls and a place for offerings. The back walls of the temple are extended, as we saw at Serra Orrios, and the information boards show the structure originally with a steeply pitched roof.

Clearly signposted from the 389 between Bitti and Budduso; there’s a left turn (if heading north) a couple of km north of the junction to/from Nule and Benetutti. Then 3km on single track lane, but actually a reasonable road and signposted all the way.

The site is open 09:00-13:00 and 15:00-19:00 (Sundays 09:30-13:00 and 14:30-19:00) with 3 guided tours run in each half day. Entry is 3.10 euros for adults with various reductions available. The ticket office is the hut on the carpark; we signed the guest book and were lent a plan of and guide to the site. There’d only been one other visitor all day, and unsurprisingly, we had the place to ourselves for the afternoon.

The complex covers 7 hectares, in a beautiful, if rather windy, spot, with cork oaks and clearings with dappled sunlight. About 20 huts are visible, though there are over 100, and there are 3 temple buildings and a sacred well, each listed separately. The grid reference given for the whole site is that of the entrance to it.

Straight in front of you, the first thing you see is the sacred enclosure with a couple of small huts beyond it, and the megaron temples to the right; following the path ahead goes to the main part of the complex, with the rectangular temple and holy well. The other main features here are huts with niches and hearths, and low benches round their interior walls; one hut is unusual in that is has a central dividing wall, and there’s also the “great hut” divided into rooms.

This tomba is right in Birori – it reminded us of the cairn circle at Aviemore for its proximity to the houses.

To find it, go to the centre of the village where, at a cross roads, there’s a couple of shops. Turn to the north; the first, almost immediate, left turn goes into a parking area – we asked directions here – and were told to take the second left instead, and follow the road round. The tomb is signposted from here, with modern development all around. Look for the pink neon hotel sign to help you locate it, if lost.

The grasscutters were out with strimmers in the village, but hadn’t reached the site yet, so we were waist deep in grass at many points.

The tomb is sizeable – approx 17m long and 12m wide; there’s no stele, but the corridor has two side niches opposite each other, a feature that we’d only seen at Lassia nearby. There’s a bench along the front of the esedra, and the walls of the corridor angle in towards each other.

The esedra in particular is easy to see is of double walled construction, with the cavity filled with smaller stones, rubble and earth.

Nuraghe Loelle is at a cross roads; diagonally opposite it, right up against the (minor) road, you’ll find the first tomba di gigante associated with the settlement here.

It’s a tiny little one! Yet impressive. The esedra consists now of 5 stones, pale at the bottom and grey at the top, with a distinct bench along the front as we’d seen at many of sites.

The corridor leads back towards the road, its inner edges well defined but the outer part of the tomb only really visible on its right hand side.

From Loelle I, there’s a track into the woods with a series of stones set upright to mark the way. It’s 215 paces to the second tomb – the grid reference might by slightly off, but the path takes you there. It’s hidden in the trees, and is difficult to photograph!

You approach the rear of the tomb first, but round the front it’s possible to make out at least the left hand wing of the esedra. The corridor is clearly defined with an end stone in place.

By this point in our trip, we were fairly well “nuraghe’d out” and had ignored many over the previous few days. They are everywhere! But this is a curious construction.

It’s built into a rocky outcrop, and there’s a side entrance to a cave underneath.

The main entrance leads to stairs winding round to the right, and reaching the first floor level above the doorway. A second flight goes up to the top, and a passage way ahead leads to a room with two niches in the wall, and then a very impressive second flight of stairs back down again – leading currently nowhere, but possibly a way into the now inaccessible main chamber of the nuraghe.

Climbing to the top gives a great view of the rest of the settlement, and the cows grazing in the field.

On the 389 from Bitti to Budduso, you can’t, and indeed shouldn’t, miss this one.

The site has good information boards and the section further from the road has stone tables and benches, ideal for a picnic.

There’s the remains of round huts around the nuraghe, the nuraghe itself – stunning! – and two tombas to be found here.