From a post by Andrea Mura-Nuragando Sardegna:
Be careful not to confuse: this is not the Oschini of Ghilarza but the Oskina (or Oschina) of Paulilatino.
Similar names, different beauties. The Oskina is a bit more challenging to reach: it is 1.5 km in a straight line from the famous well of Santa Cristina and you will find it in the countryside, surrounded by dense vegetation that makes it difficult to identify the village around the nuraghe.
What strikes the most is the tower, more than 10 meters high, surrounded by an elliptical bastion whose front side blends with the edge of the cliff. The bastion that surrounds the nuraghe makes space for two open areas on either side of the tower; from the one to the west, now filled with debris, a conduit once ran through the wall at ground level and flowed outside. All around, as mentioned, the remains of a nuragic village.
The tholos will intrigue you for the fact that, in addition to two opposing niches, it features, above the left niche, an elevated entrance of a staircase that leads to the upper floor (look at the interior photos, following those taken with the drone). The staircase is impracticable due to the collapse, but from Sequi we discover that it was still accessible in the early 1900s, when it was seen by Nissardi.
We relive the upper chamber with the words of the Jesuit Alberto Maria Centurione from 1888: “It is true that one can also find in some of the larger Nuraghi, such as the Oschina of Paulilatino, an upper chamber that is small beyond half of the lower one and does not have light and air except from a small window. But what? Let its section be seen. Here, the parts are observed inverted with wide compensation. Because the large chamber below has a very high door with another small opening above, and is protected in front of the door by a protruding half-moon above a steep bank.”
Sources of information:
-A.M. Centurione, “Recent studies on the nuraghi and their importance,” 1886
-Sequi, “Manual for recognizing 90 great megalithic towers of Sardinia,” 1985.
The photos of the nuraghe Oschina are by Andrea Mura-Nuragando Sardegna.
