The town of Aleria (Alalia) on Corsica was first founded by the Phoceans, but right after the battle in the Sea of Sardinia between the Carthaginians and the Greeks in the sixth century BC it was abandoned by them. The Etruscans, allied with the Carthaginians at the time of the battle, refounded Aleria.

Bosa lies on the river Temo, the only navigable river for about 6 kilometers of Sardinia. Here you can see the famous castle of the Malaspina. The origins of Bosa can be found in punic-roman times near the church of San Pietro, on the leftbank of the river Temo.

Cagliari, founded by the Phoenicians and called Karali or Karales, is now the capital of the autonomous region of Sardinia. It has a university, an archaeological museum and a historical centre of particular beauty.

Cornus is one of those lost towns of Sardinia. What remains is the site of the early medieval church with the burials, but once it was the flourishing hometown of Hampsicora who defied the romans.

Impressions of traditions, folklore, characteristical places of Sardinia

Forum Traianus is a roman site on the banks of the river Tirso. Next to the baths there is the forum itself left to be seen. It was once the key to the control of the highlands of Sardinia for the romans.

The Giara di Gesturi is a highland plateau. Here live the horses, the cavallino della giara, but there is also a variety of flora thanks to the ponds in the rainy seasons. Access to the highland plateau is limited.

Since prehistorical times mining has been one of the main industries in Sardinia. The mine at Montevecchio has been transformed into a museum and the first level can be visited with an expert guide, one of the miners that worked there. It is the mine where my father in law has worked in his youth.

Monte Sirai was a stronghold of the Phoenicians and Punics in the south of Sardinia. It guarded the access to the mining area of the Iglesiente and lies near Carbonia on a hill dominating the surrounding country.

The archeological museum in the Sardinian capital Cagliari is the most important museum for Sardinian archaeology.

The natural environment in Sardinia ranges from it‘s white beaches and every type of blue seas to it‘s rich green in the winter and yellow and brown in the summer with inbetween the many colours of the Sardinian flora.

This necropolis is the largest in it's kind on Sardinia and contains about 38 prehistoric graves similar to the Domus de Janas. The necropolis is located near the airport of Alghero.

Nora is the site of a Punic-Roman town in the south of Sardinia, claimed to be the first town founded by the Phoenicians. The site is rich in roman mosaic floors and has a beautiful roman theatre.

Genna Maria is a nuragic site in the hills near Villanovaforru and is one of the complex type of nuraghi. It has a magnificent view over the Campidano.

Nuraghe Losa near Abbasanta lies on a highland plateau along the roads that crossed Sardinia from south to north. Around it there was a small village.

This complex nuraghe is surrounded by an extended nuragic village. It is located at the foot of the mountain, near the sea along the road from Alghero to Porto Conte. It is one of the most famous nuraghi of Sardinia.

Oristano is the capital of the province of Oristano and in medieval times one of capitals of the Giudicati of Sardinia, that of Arborea. It has a pittoresque historical centre.

San Giovanni di Sinis is a small village near Cape San Marco at the foot of the archaeological site of Tharros. In the middle you will find one of the small early christian churches, built in sandstone blocks from the site of Tharros.

San Salvatore is a small village near the lagoons of Cabras. Under the church there is a hypogeum dating back to neolithic times as a place of veneration.

At Sardara, in the middle of the modern town, next to the small church of Sant‘Anastasia, lies the site of a sacred well and nuragic village.

Santa Cristina is the name of the small church built next to the water sanctuary of nuragic times. This water sanctuary is unique because of it‘s mathematical construction method. The site lies in a natural park and near a nuragic village with a single towered nuraghe.

Santa Giusta was formerly known as Othoca, a phoenician-punic-roman town. Although there is not much visible of archaeological remains the church of Santa Giusta still contains a varied number of columns dating back to these times.

The site of Santa Vittoria di Serri lies on the edge of one of the highland plateaus, called giare. It is a rich nuragic site with many remains of huts, a sacred waterwell and a large construction where religious festivities were held. It is said that the romans surprised the Sards feasting and killed many of them burning down their religious centre.

The nuraghe site at Barumini, Su Nuraxi, is one of the complex nuraghi of Sardinia. It has been excavated by the archaeologist Lilliu and is now on the list of the UNESCO of the world heritage.

Sulcis is the old name of Sant‘Antioco, one of the oldest colonies of the phoenicians.

The temple of Antas was erected by the Punic rulers of Sardinia and dedicated to the god of the Sards, Sid. Later it was rebuilt by the Romans and dedicated to Sardus Pater.

Tharros is the site of a former Punic-Roman town founded by the Phoenicians in the eight century BC. It is located on the south side of the peninsula of Sinis which forms the cape of San Marco.

Stone quarry near Selinunte where the stones for the great temples came from.

Motya, or Mothia, was the most important Phoenician-Punic town in West-Sicily, built on a small island in front of the coast. It had a large industrial quarter and in punic times was surrounded by a city wall and city gates to defend itself against the attacks of the Greek tyrants of Sicily.

Segesta was the capital of the Elimians, friends of the Phoenicians and Punics against the Greeks. In hellenistic times they aspired to build a great temple and greek theatre.

Selinunte was founded by the greek colonists in the eight century BC. It found itself in the middle of the wars between Greeks and Punics and at some time in history it was conquered by Carthage. Selinunte and Segesta were eternal rivals in West-Sicily.

The province of Trapani coincides approximately with the area of the Phoenician and Punic influence in Sicily. Most characteristical of this side of the island is the salt industry.

Sardinia in the month of may, 2008.

To defend Sardinia against frequent raids and attacks from the arabs the Spanish built numerous towers along the coasts. Whenever ships were spotted they could warn the population in advance.