The archeological site of Santa Cristina has three distinct area's in the setting of a natural park created by the town of Paulilatino. It can be easily reached by a separate junction of the strada statale 131 Carlo Felice between Oristano and Abbasanta, just above the plains surrounding the bay of Oristano.

The stairway and walls of the entrance to
the nuragic well

The main area can be found around the nuragic sanctuary of the well. This well is a jewel of architecture, although the upper part has disappeared completely and only the underground structure is still intact. The well itself is a tholos shaped perfectly round structure, 6.9 meters high that can be reached through a triangular shaped entrance with a staircase. The walls, the staircase and the well itself are built with elaborated mathematical precision giving the whole structure it's awesome appearance, very much unlike the rough basalt structures of the nuraghi. At the bottom of the well several votive statues and ceramics have been found that indicate the use as water sanctuary. The site probably was founded in the eleventh century BC.

The church of Santa Cristina
and the surrounding cumbessias

Next to the well lies the hut of the reunions (assembly) and the foundations of what has been interpreted as structures used during festivities and could have sheltered all sorts of stands with religious articles and workshops.

The second part consists of the more recent church of Santa Cristina and the small houses (cumbessias) where several times a year the people gathered for religious ceremonies and feasts that could take days. Therefore some of the families built a small house to stay overnight.

The nuragic village and
the nuraghe of Santa Cristina

The third part is the nuragic village, several hundred meters away from the well, around a single nuraghe (nuraghe monotorre). Of particular interest are the long huts built completely in stone of which the function is still unknown. These would not have been part of the original nuragic village but from much later date.

The landscape around the site is of particular beauty, typical of that zone.

Bibliography

1. Lilliu,G. 2003: La civiltà dei Sardi dal paleolitico all'età dei nuraghi, Nuoro
2. Moravetti, A. 2003: Il santuario nuragico di Santa Cristina, Sassari
3. Santillo Frizell, B. 1992, Phoenician Echoes in a Nuragic Building in: Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A footprint in the sea, ed. R. H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews, Sheffield, p. 262-270