20.2: Aspr and silent granite ridges, shaped by the wind into bizarre sculptures, valleys with stretches of holm oaks and oaks that ‘cut’ the horizon, streams forming small lakes. It is the splendid scenery of La sardegna verso l’unesco.pointSenalonga, promontory that dominates the plateau ofBuddusò, where a splendid example of a nuragic sanctuary stands: ““sos Nurattolos”. The highest archaeological expression of the territory ofAlà dei Sardi, dedicated to the worship of water, was discovered in the second half of the 20th century and can be dated between 1600 and 900 BC. To reach it, you will have to cross the small village ‘of granite’ on the borders betweenGalluraand Nuorese. After parking, you will walk along a path of pebbles and slightly sloping steps that goes into the thick vegetation and leads to the top ofSenalonga, a relief of a thousand meters where the spectacle of nature gives way to precious prehistoric legacies. The signs of the passage of the Nuragic man are at the summit: it is asacred springlocated within an irregular courtyard, where a circular masonry hut, probably dedicated to cult activities, ‘covers’ the well of the perennial spring that allowed the devotees to purify themselves. You can continue along the ‘sacred way’, after the ‘immersion’, discovering atemple‘a megaron’, surrounded by an elliptical enclosure. The structure consists of two concentric circular environments: it is a characteristic and mysterious place, where animals for sacrifice were likely confined or where oracles were consulted. The rituals were perhaps directed to a deity that dispensed life from the bowels of the earth: the Nuragic people turned to it to invoke fertility and health. Not far away, you will observe another large hut, also circular and equipped with an entrance room and a chamber. It was a place of ‘community’ character, the so-called ‘meeting hut’, typical of Nuragic villages. Usually, here the pilgrim might have paused for a conversation with the priests. (Sardegna Turismo)
The photos of the Nuragic Sanctuary “Sos Nurattolos”, of Alà dei Sardi, are by Giovanni Sotgiu, Sergio Melis, and Piera Farina Sechi.
