Stonehenge? Not at all, it’s Pranu Mutteddu archaeological park!

Looking at the pictures above and below you would think of being in Stonehenge or in one of the megalithic monuments sites in France but, instead...surprise! We are in the South of Sardinia, near Cagliari, in the locality known as “Pranu Mutteddu” close to the small village of Goni.
The archaeological Megalithic Park of Pranu Mutteddu, is the place which can praises the highest concentration of menhirs of the whole island, more than 60 megaliths and, because of that, is one of the most representative sites of sardinian prehistory.
The area of the park covers 200 thousand square meters and praises the highest concentration of standing stones on the island and many different types of burials of the latest Neolithic.

The number of menhirs, about 60, are proto- anthropomorphic kind, distributed or arranged in long arrays individually or in groups, often located near tombs. The most important lineup is composed by 20 elements.

The tombs are mainly circle shaped made with a series of circles of stones stuck into the ground and with a sepolclare sub- rectangular shape cell at the center. Some of them are composed by circular room and a corridor made with stone rows ,embedded in the ground and topped by slabs, covered, a long time ago, by a ground mound.

The extreme accuracy and the monumental nature of some of the park tombs, brings to assume the use of the site for important sepulchral functions and religious rites and, perhaps a sacred temple for the worship of ancestors.

The archaeological park visitors, not so many yet, report the feeling of a particular atmosphere of calm and relaxation and the flowing of a positive energy, typical of all the places chosen by the ancients for their sacred settlements.

Dolmens and Menhirs in Sardinia

The Dolmens are megalithic constructions, built in ancient times and used as a collective burials. Sardinia praises numerous tombs of dolmen type, especially prevalent in the northern half of the island.

These buildings were built with slabs knocked in into the ground and topped with huge stone slabs as cover. Usually pile of ground and stones was thrown covering them completely. They were often made with a precise astronomical orientation and bounded by stone circles highlighting the sacredness of these places used to practice religious function .

Among the Dolmen “Sa Coveccada”(Sassari), is one of the most important megalithic constructions of this kind in the whole Mediterranean area, with enviable height of about 2.70 meters.

The menhirs spread across Europe, and not only from the Neolithic period, are instead elongated large monoliths stuck vertically in the ground and often arranged in long lineups or distributed in individual elements.
In the Sardinian language are commonly called " perdas litteradas" (lettered stones) with a probable reference to the engravings that many of these monuments have, as in the case of the menhirs of Laconi.
Their function is not entirely clear, often located by the graves as probable religious symbols arranged in isolated places, perhaps used as a guidance system .

The archaeological area of “Pranu Muttedu”, in Goni town area about thirty minutes from Cagliari, belongs the highest concentration of menhirs with about 60 monoliths variously distributed in an area of about 200 thousand square meter

CAVES OF SARDINIA: Neptune's Cave - Alghero ( SS)

The Neptune's cave takes its name from the Roman god of the sea; it is the most famous amoung Sardinia's caves.

It can be reached by a flight of steps,the "Escala del Cabirol", which clings to the ridge west of the head reaching the mouth of the cave or by sea, trough boats departing from the' main port of Alghero. It's a service that operates during the tourist season (summertime) and the package includes transfer and visit in about three hours. The access to the cave is feasible through a passage covered of vegetation,until reaching a lake fed by the sea.

La cave offers a setting of incomparable beauty and characterized by exceptional concretions and the limpidity of its inland lake. It's a huge cave which has a total length of 2,500 meters, with several "halls", wide galleries, crystalline lakes, deep wells, narrow tunnels that make its stucture very complex.

Through a footpath is possile to get to a column that rises up to the natural
archway roof whith which forms other two spectacular arches.
Further, columns course leads to the lake hollow,called "the Palace", from where you can admire a white sandy beach, and, in the farthest part of the cave, you can also see a natural "terrace" called "the music Tribune".

To the right side, where it opens an area closed to the public and accessible only by speleologist, we found a path that leads up to that is commonly known as "Mushrooms Lake", and then, through a tunnel called "The Subway, to the huge hall where the right-hand side is occupied by the known as "Lunar Lake"

Geologically the "Capo Caccia" promontory that hosts the whole cave system, it seems to consists by rocks of the Cretaceous period , whose age is between 135 and 65 million years.

CAVES OF SARDINIA: St.John's (San Giovanni) cave - Domusnovas (CI)

St.John's (San Giovanni) cave - Domusnovas (CI)

The San Giovanni Cave is an extraordinary karst phenomenon, with its 850 meters is one of the longest natural tunnels in Europe. 
Its name derives from the presence of an internalchapel dedicated to St.John's (San
Giovanni).

It is believed to have formed due to a collapse of the huge calcareous mass of "Monte Acqua" (Mount Water).

It is the only case in Italy, one of three in the world, of a natural cavity crossed by a
road.The long paved road that runs through the cave,leads to the mountainous area, is no longer viable for private vehicles in order to preserve the environmental conditions

THE SARDINIAN LANGUAGE ( Limba Sarda or Sardu)

Each geographical area of Sardinia has had a historical evolution with different linguistic influences that still characterize the different varieties of Sardinian, called by Sardinian native speakers “Sardu” or in general “Limba Sarda” . What is constant is the sound and musicality .
The Sardinian is the most characteristic of Latin idioms ; In fact , while the other Romance languages were changing during the centuries , Sardinia , and then the “Sardu”, in its isolation , it preserves the original peculiarities of this language with its illustrious origins , Greek and Latin .

1700 marks the passage of Sardinia from Spanish rule to the Piemontese kingsdom and, for the first half of the century remains a bilingual situation : the Sardinian and Spanish. It was later imposed on the use of Italian as an official language and at the same time was reduced the scope of use of the Latin.
The real break begins with the unification of Italy (after 1861) .
The Italian language becomes more and more official . The dialect , however, was still widespread .

The term “Limba Sarda” (Sardinian Language) includes all Sardinia with the exception of Alghero, the Catalan linguistic island , and of Carloforte and Calasetta genoese linguistic islands (called Tabarkino)

The Sardo is divided into five main types :

- Nuorese , spoken in the center of the island and with Goceano with its main center in teh city of Nuoro ;
- Gallurese , spoken in the north- eastern part of Sardinia ;
- Sassarese , spoken in Sassari city and around territories;
- Logudorese , spoken in the central- northern Sardinia ;
- Campidanese in the south of the island.

While the Nuorese and Logudorese are the languages that have suffered less than any other continental influences , the Campidanese , while retaining the characteristic features of Sardinian language, is closer to the Italian dialects of south-central type .
The Gallura and Sassari also have had strong continental influence ; they belong to Tuscan type-languages , even if they are developed alongside the “Sardu”.

Sacred Wells in Sardinia

The sacred wells, also called well temples, stood almost always near a water source and they were the places where the nuragic civilization practiced the worship of water, an essential element of their religion. 
Present all around Sardinia, they may be significantly different, the most comtype involves a circular well constructed of blocks of stone, which is accessed via steps that came up from the surface to the water level; above the well may be surrounded by low fences circular stone, or surmounted by a small building.

SARDINIAPEARL'S first video on Youtube, enjoy it!