Archaelogical Sites

Man appeared in the province of Oristano about in the 6000 B.C in order to search for the obsidian inside the Monte Arci.

Along the banks of the ponds the first villages of huts were settled and on the hills the collective graves,which are traditionally called "Domus de Janas"(houses of the fairies) were dug: they can be found near the sea ( San Vero Milis), in the uplands of Abbasanta, Busachi and Villa Sant'Antonio.

Near these ones it is possible to find the traces of religion: the menhir, the thick rocks which are oriented towards the sky and the menhir- statues which symbolize dead people who became heroes or gods.

The nuragic cilivilizatin develops between the 1800 and the 500 a. C.
The towers made up of big blocks of rock can be found near the sea on the plains and on the mountains as well. Beginning from Nuraghe Losa the continuous presence of giants of rock are proof of the wonderful Bronze Age of Sardinia.

In the same period the people from Sardinia built their well temples where they worshipped the gods of water. A good exemple of this sanctuaries is the well temple of Santa Cristina di Paulilatino, built with basaltic blocks whose shape is perfect.

About in the 725 B.C Phoenicians founded the cities of Tharros and Othoca( Santa Giusta) while Carthaginians, after having conquered Sardinia at the end of the VI century B.C built the cities of Neapolis(southwards from the Marceddì pond) and Cornus(by Santa Caterina di Pittinuri).

These centres thrived thanks to trade, agriculture and breeding and during the Roman period (238 B.C- 450/460 A.C )infrastructures such as thermal baths, aqueducts and temples were built, which are still today part of the panorama of these dead cities. In the Roman period the settlement of Aqae Ypsitanae became a city, which between 98 and 117 A.C was called Forum Traiani in relationship with the Emperor Traiano. The great remains of the thermal baths and the amphitheatre can be seen still today in Fordongianus.

Then there was the period of Vandals and of Byzantines up to the creation, around in the 900, of four kingdoms("Giudicati") of Cagliari, Logudoro, Gallura and Arborea.At the beginning Tharros was the capital of the kingdom of Arborea, since 1070 Oristano became the capital, in which the cathedral, the churches, the towers and the walls are proof of its glorious past.