The nuragic

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

is a typical Sardinian hypogean

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

structure for the worship of the waters. Scattered throughout the island, along with the

Giants' grave Giants' tomb (Italian: '' Tomba dei giganti'', Sardinian: ''Tumba de zigantes'' / ''gigantis'') is the name given by local people and archaeologists to a type of Sardinian megalithic gallery grave built during the Bronze Age by the Nuragic civili ...

and the megaron temples, they testify to the deep religiosity of the Nuragic populations. These temples were a place of pilgrimage and ceremonies: it is believed that at certain times of year the various nuragic populations of the area gathered together in their vicinity.

Architecture

The oldest temples were built in the style of the

nuraghe The nuraghe (, ; plural: Logudorese Sardinian , Campidanese Sardinian , Italian ), or also nurhag in English, is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia, developed during the Nuragic Age between 1900 and 730 B.C. To ...

, with blocks of stone not perfectly squared; over time they were built with a greater accuracy. The most common type is composed of a circular well built with blocks of stone, which was accessed by steps that descended to water level.Pozzi Sacri, il portale sardo
They are a clear example of the architectural mastery of the nuragics and evidence of their reverence for water sources.

Dating

In the past it was thought that they were built between the eighth and sixth centuries BC; the latest findings, however, have led archaeologists to estimate that the temples date from the time when there was a close relationship between the Mycenaean kingdoms,

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and Sardinia (around 1300 BC). An almost certain dating comes from recent excavations in the Holy Well of

Funtana Coberta Funtana Coberta ( Sardinian: ''Sa Funtana Coberta'') is a holy pit (subterranean temple) in Sarrabus-Gerrei, a traditional subregion of Sardinia, Italy. Dating to c. 1200–850 BC, it is included in the territory of Ballao, in the province of Ca ...

, near

Ballao Ballao, (Ballau in the Sardinian language), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari, in the Gerrei traditional subregion. It was founded around 1300, whe ...

, which lack completely Iron Age nuragic ceramics, while there are finds from the Aegean. The Well of Ballao was probably built in the late Bronze Age and abandoned some centuries later.

Image gallery

File:Pozzo Sacro Santa Cristina S.S.131 Km.115 Paulilatino (Or) Sardegna.JPG, Holy well of Santa Cristina File:Funtana Coberta.jpg, Reconstruction of the holy well of

File:Pozzo_sacro_di_Funtana_Coberta_Tholos_da_interno.JPG, ''Tholoi'' of the Funtana Coberta well File:Olbia - Pozzo sacro di Sa Testa (19).JPG, Sa Testa,

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...

File:Santa_Cristina_Pozzo_Sacro_Sezione_mediana.jpg, Santa Cristina holy well (section),

Paulilatino Paulilatino ( sc, Paùlle) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Oristano in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northwest of Cagliari and about northeast of Oristano. Paulilatino borders the following municipalities: Abbasan ...

File:Pozzo Sacro di Santa Cristina.jpg, Holy well of Santa Cristina File:Pozzo sacro di Santa Cristina, la volta a tholos sopra il pozzo. - panoramio.jpg, Underground tholos of the Santa Cristina temple File:SantaVittoria2.jpg, Nuragic well temple at Serri File:Nulvi, pozzo sacro di nuraghe Irrù (04).jpg, Nulvi, Nuragic holy well of Irrù File:Su Tempiesu detail.jpg, Su Tempiesu detail File:Perfugas - Pozzo sacro di Predio Canopoli (6).jpg, Perfugas - Holy well of Predio Canopoli

Notes

Bibliography

* G Lilliu: ''Sardegna Nuragica'', Edizioni ''Il Maestrale'', 2006,

* A.Moravetti: ''Il santuario nuragico di Santa Cristina''; Editore Carlo Delfino,

* R.Pettazzoni, ''La religione primitiva in Sardegna'', 1912, Società Editrice Pontremolese, Cagliari Biblioteca Nazional

* M. A. Fadda, F. Posi: ''Il villaggio nuragico Su Romanzesu'', Editore Carlo Delfino, 2006

* Demurtas S. U. Manca Demurtas L. ''Santa Cristina e i siti archeologici nel territorio di Paulilatino'' 1999. * Pitzalis G.: ''Il pozzo sacro di Predio Canopoli''. Bollettino di Archeologia Perfugas. 1991. * Lilliu, G. ''La civiltà dei Sardi dal neolitico all'età dei nuraghi''. Torino - Edizioni ERI - 1967. *Puddu M. G.: ''Recenti sondaggi di scavo a Santa Vittoria di Serri'', in: ''La Sardegna nel Mediterraneo fra il Bronzo Medio e il Bronzo Recente''. Atti del III Convegno di Studi. * Lilliu G. ''Sculture della Sardegna nuragica'' Verona 1962. * Aa.Vv., Ichnussa. ''La Sardegna dalle origini all'età classica'' - Milano, 1981. * Paolo Melis: ''Nuraghenkultur'' 2003. . * Maria Rosaria Manunza (a cura di): ''Funtana Coberta. Tempio nuragico a Ballao nel Gerrei''; {{ISBN, 88-8775-82-04. Archaeology of Sardinia Holy wells

Architecture

Dating

Image gallery

See also

Notes

Bibliography