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As you enter the field from the gate, the tomba is hidden – the back of it is in the nearby clump of trees, slightly to the right. It’s very overgrown!

The stele is only half the size of many we’d seen, but has the relief carving around it. The corridor is long, and unusual in that it curves slightly. There’s one capstone left, currently about 3/4 of the way along the corridor, though that may not be its original place.

Having turned off the old main road, it’s about 900m up the winding track to the level crossing, with very handy spot to park. Now, in TME, JC suggests “turn right and walk along railway line 355 paces”.

No! The line is in use; two trains went past while we were there!

Instead, go over the level crossing and follow the continuation of the track for 400 paces (OK, my paces are probably somewhat shorter than his!) to a gate with a crude wooden sign. Go into the field and turn to the right. Climb up towards the railway line, and the tomba will become visible, right up against the line and slightly to the right of your position.

Most of the tomba that we’d seen so far had a stele, or central stone, with a portal carved in it, flanked with orthostats making the curved facade, or esedra, of the tomb. But here, the construction is coursed masonry.

It’s in a good state, considering its proximity to the railway line, though a little overgrown. The tomb is over 10m long, and the width of the esedra is similar. Beardy climbed right inside – the chamber is long and narrow, but tall enough to stand up in.

A coachload of school children were at the well itself, so we wandered over to look at the hut beyond – a meeting hut due to the stone seat round the inside – and waited until they had gone to be able to fully appreciate the site.

Wow!

An elliptical wall 26m x 20m, from the late Bronze Age, encloses the well temple. It’s in 3 parts – a foyer, the steps, and then the well chamber itself.

The 24 steps are perfect. Smooth basalt, narrowing, creating a trapezoidal shape, echoed by the graduated ceiling, leading down to the well chamber.

The chamber itself has a bottle-like cross section, with the centre circular opening being about 50cm deep. The whole chamber is over 7m high and about 2.5m in diameter, again with perfectly smooth basalt blocks making a tholos style ceiling.

The water level was quite high, covering the step round the edge of the chamber.

Finds here have included a bronze ship figure, dated to 7th century BCE; the site is thought to be around 1000 BCE.

What an incredible place!

The nuraghe is a simple monotower style, built of basalt blocks, and is 13m in diameter and 6m tall. The entrance is at the south east; there’s a niche to the right and a flight of steps to the left as you enter. The main tholos chamber beyond has a diameter of 3.5m with 3 niches off it. The stairs climb clockwise round the tower, the first floor level giving views across the whole village.

The Santa Cristina complex is right longside the SS131, just south of Paulilitino. Entry costs 5 euros for adults, and there’s a cafe and bar, and souvenirs on sale, clean toilets and ample parking.

It’s open from 08:30 to 22:30 (or 21:00 in the winter).

There are 3 main elements:

The centre is a Christian village, with families living in the long low buildings and a quaint church on the village square.

The most important elements though, are the holy well to the north, and the nuraghic village to the south.

There are two menhirs alongside the path to the village, and an impressive hut at a short distance from the main part of the village which is grouped around the base of the nuraghe. One of the huts here is a massive 14m long, and its interior shows the same construction style as a tomba di gigante.

This tomba is situated just to the north of a walled enclosure for farm buildings, almost opposite Nuraghe Oppianu. The track towards the enclosure was gated and padlocked, and the undergrowth looked substantial, so knowing from our research notes that the site has yet to be excavated and the stele is missing, and that it would be difficult to see, we left this one for another time.

From Borore, head towards the SS131. At the big junction and flyover, take the first left, signposted to Flor Mirko (nursery / garden centre) and head south on the old main road.

The tomba is signposted from this road and its turn is directly opposite Flor Mirko – as you turn, there’s a farmyard infront, and the track you want goes to the left.

We drove cautiously on for about 300m, and then spotted the stele in the corner of a field on a S bend ahead. There’s a track to pull into / turn round in just before the first corner, and a similar space opposite the second.

And what a stele! Broken vertically. Has it been intact, it would probably be among the largest on the island. It’s 3.8m high, and the remaining part is 1.9m wide – originally about 4m wide.

The tomba is right up against the field/road boundary, and the left hand side of the esedra is almost non-existant because of this.

The body of the tomba runs parallel to the boundary and there are 9 of the original 12 side stones still in place, half buried in the long grass, forming a corridor 8.8m x 1.2m.

As we visited, the local farmer appeared to clear the field of sheep and gave us a friendly wave.

Imbertighe tomba di gigante has an impressive curved esedra made of small blocks, and a relief carved stele standing 3.6m high.

The body of the tomb was originally 11.5m long, but there’s very little to see of it on site. The info board says it’s been destroyed; my research notes say it’s still buried.