Travel guide

which points to relationships with the European mainland and closes the
Eneolithic. The National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari collects the
most important remains of the ancient Sardinian civilisation. It includes the
exhibits of the old Archaeological Museum, opened in 1859 and relocated
in 1993 from the historical site of Piazza Indipendenza to the compound
of the Cittadella dei Musei (Citadel of the Museums) in Piazza Arsenale.
On the ground floor, objects dated to a period ranging between Prehistory
and the beginning of the Middle Ages are displayed; whereas the upper
On the left:
The sacred well
of Santa Cristina
in Paulilatino
On the right:
The village and
nuraghe of Barumini
floors follow topographical rather than chronological exhibition criteria.
Indeed, the most significant objects of the various archaeological areas and
sites across the Island are displayed here: bone necklaces, tripod and
basket vases, cycladic-like statuettes representing the Mother Goddess,
bronzetti (bronze figurines) of the Nuragic civilisation, Phoenician
inscriptions and funerary steles of Punic Age, vases of Greek and Italic
origin, buccheri (pitchers) of Etruscan manufacturing, as well as Roman
marble statues of gods and emperors are just a few of the countless
exhibits collected in the museum, a mandatory stop for any cultural
itinerary around the town of Cagliari.
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