Nuraghe

Whether seen on the plains or on the mountains, the Nuraghe are generally built on the summits of hillocks, or on artificial mounds, commanding the country.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

Nuraghe, standing about three miles from Sassari, and in good preservation.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

In the absence of any positive evidence regarding the origin and design of the Sardinian Nuraghe [76], there has been abundance of conjecture and speculation on the subject.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

I know not whether it was from the position of the ruins, or the hazy state of the atmosphere, night coming on, that I failed to make out some Cyclopean vestiges mentioned by Captain Smyth — Mr. Tyndale says they are a large Nuraghe — as standing on one of the most remarkable summits, at an elevation of upwards of 1000 feet, and called by the peasants, “The Giants 'Tower.”

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

The Nuraghe to which our steps were directed proved to be a very picturesque object, rising out of a thicket of shrubs, with tufts growing in the crevices of the tower, which on one side was dilapidated.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

After feasting our eyes on perhaps the most charming _tableau_ the island affords, decked with nature's choicest gifts, and exhibiting an industry unusual among the modern Sardes, we sat down at the foot of the hillock, while my friend was completing his sketches of the Nuraghe, and our thoughts were naturally drawn to these relics of a primitive age.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

The inquiry would be incomplete unless it were extended to other Sarde remains, of equal or greater antiquity, for the purpose of discovering whether they have any affinity with, or can throw any light on, the mysterious origin of the Nuraghe.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

Discarding such conjectural theories, the best-informed travellers and writers are agreed in considering the Nuraghe as being designed either for religious edifices or tombs for the dead.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

Nuraghe are works of a very early period, just when rude labour had begun to be directed by some rules of geometrical art.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester

These are continued to the summit of the tower, which is generally supposed to have formed a platform; but scarcely any of the Nuraghe now present a perfect apex.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester