The Temple of Antas is an ancient

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

temple in the commune of Fluminimaggiore, southern

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is located in an area colonised by the Carthaginians and then by the Romans, attracted by its silver and lead deposits. It consists of a Roman temple, under whose steps are the remains of the Carthaginian one, which was dedicated to the god ''Sid Addir'', a later incarnation of the local god '' Sardus Pater Babai'', the main male divinity of the

Nuragic civilization The Nuragic civilization, also known as the Nuragic culture, was a civilization or culture on Sardinia (Italy), the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, which lasted from the 18th century BC (Middle Bronze Age) (or from t ...

. The original temple had been built around 500 BC over a sacred limestone

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...

, and restored around 300 BC. The Roman temple was built by emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

(27 BC - 14 AD) and restored under

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

(213-217 AD). If still in use by the 4th-and 5th century, it would have been closed during the

persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church ...

. Its remains were discovered in 1836 by general

Alberto La Marmora Alberto Ferrero La Marmora (or Della Marmora; 7 April 1789 – 18 March 1863) was an Italian soldier and naturalist. He was elder brother to Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora, soldier and founder of the Bersaglieri, and to Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora ...

, and rebuilt to the current status in 1967. The fore section of the temple includes six columns, with a height of some 8 metres, with

Ionic capitals The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

. Originally a triangular

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

was also present. The

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek temple, Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extende ...

was accessed through two side openings and had a mosaic-covered pavement, part of which has been preserved. The temple was provided with two square reservoirs, which housed the water for the sacred rites of purification. It is likely that a statue of the Sardus Pater was housed in the cella. According to the size of the only remain found, a finger, it has been estimated that it was some 3 metres high. The archaeological area of temple includes a small

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

, remains of an ancient Nuragic village (13th-10th centuries BC), Roman quarries of limestone and an ancient path connecting the temple to a sacred cave where the water cult was practised.

References

External links

Italian page about the temple

Sassari, Fluminimaggiore, tempio di Antas
* * *Bagnolo, V.; Argiolas, R.; Cuccu, A. (31 January 2019). *Bernardini, Paolo; Ibba, Antonio
"Il santuario di Antas fra Cartagine e Roma"
in: J. Cabrero Piquero e L. Montecchio (cur.), Sacrum nexum: alianzas entre el poder político y la religión en el mundo romano, Madrid-Salamanca 2015, pp. 75-138 .
The temple of Sardus PaterThe Punic-Roman Temple of Antas, Sardinia
{{coord, 39.3940, N, 8.5002, E, source:wikidata, display=title 1st-century BC religious buildings and structures Buildings and structures in Sardinia Antas Carthage Archaeological sites in Sardinia Tourist attractions in Sardinia Roman sites of Sardinia Temples in Italy

See also

References

External links