Sardara

The territory of Sardara, one of the main centres in the area called Medio Campidano, was inhabited since the Nuragic period, as attested by worship areas, Nuragic villages and nuraghi still in good condition, where many artifacts were found.

Among the most important traces there is the archaeological area of Saint Anastasia, where there is a sanctuary which was active during all the Nuragic Age. The sacred well, made of raw basalt and limestone blocks, is accessible through an atrium with stone seats and a twelve stepped staircase leading to an underground chamber covered by a “tholos” roof.

Nearby are the ruins of some huts of a nuragic village that has returned valuable clay and bronze artifacts. The hut number 5 has been identified as “the council chamber”, because there was a counter-seat inside. Twelve bronze ingots were found inside the hut – some engraved by notches interpreted as ponderal signs –, three stacked bronze basins and a large jar covered by three bronze ingots, which contained some bronze materials.

The destination as a holy area continued without interruption until the Byzantine age, as evidenced by the remains of a Christian building under the church of Sant’Anastasia. Inside the current church, which dates back to the 15th century, there is also a well originally inserted inside a Nuragic hut.

Not too far from the archaeological area of Saint Anastasia, in the locality of “Sa Costa”, in 1912 was found a megalithic tomb, whose funeral dowry included two famous “bronzetti” (little bronze statues) of a darting archer, dressed in the oriental manner, with studded apron, hat with hemispheric cap, and a rectangular cheekpiece to protect the face; they are now on display in the Musei Nazionali di Cagliari.

The history of Sardara, today as in the past, is linked to the thermal springs. In the Roman period, inside the current inhabited center, there was an important Roman spa, the Aquae Neapolitanae, quoted by Ptolemy in the Antonine Itinerary, in the area of the ancient town of Neapolis. Around it, between the second and the first century BC, a large Roman settlement developed.