Travel guide

Apse in the
Romanesque Basilica
of San Gavino in
Porto Torres
subject to pirate incursions), the inhabitants of Nora found refuge inland
and the town was completely abandoned. The narrow southern tip of the
Sinis peninsula, located in the northern part of the Gulf of Oristano, was
chosen by the Phoenicians between the VIII and VII century B.C.E. for the
foundation of the town of Tharros, essential for the trade exchanges with
the Western Mediterranean and for accessing the wheat resources of
Sardinia. The area was formerly already occupied by Nuragic settlements
nvolved in the trade with the Mycenaean. The town was first Phoenician,
then Carthaginian and, after 238 B.C.E., went to the Romans; during the
Byzantine age, it became the bishopric headquarters. It was eventually
abandoned between the VIII and IX century A.C.E. because of the Arabic
incursions. Amidst the superb natural scenery of Cape San Marco, over
which rises the Hispanic coastal tower, it is possible to visit the ruins of the
ancient town: these include, Roman roads, dwellings and workshops, large
Punic tanks, the remnants of two thermal buildings, Punic and Roman
temples, the paleochristian baptistery, and the relics of the Punic tophet.
On the peninsula, oozing with history and culture, are also the church of
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