It is said that around the year one thousand (1004 or 1015) the famous pirate Giacomo Mugahid al ‘Amiri, popularly called Musetto, lord of Dena (and the Balearic Islands), attacked Sardinia, capturing women and children and committing unspeakable massacres. The kings of Rum (Byzantine Empire) attacked and defeated the Muslims in turn, and from then on the island did not suffer any more incursions.
A legend holds that Musetto had hidden an invaluable treasure near Nuraghe Diana, located on the Quartese coast in the Margine Rosso area. However, following his defeat, Musetto could no longer return to retrieve the loot from his raids.
In Sardinia, his companion also remained, who is said to have spent the rest of her days gazing at the sea in hope of her beloved’s return. The woman was called “la Capitana” by the locals, from which the well-known locality near the nuraghe takes its name. The legend of the pirate Mugahid’s treasure had sparked a “gold rush” and a frenzied digging activity in the vicinity of the nuraghe, in search of a supposed well within which the treasure was said to be hidden (g.v.)
In the image: a Muslim emir and Nuraghe Diana (Nuraxianna) in the photos by Marco Cocco and Cecilia Argiolas Ruggeri.
