Monday 29^th December – Cagliari (Nora, Capo Spartivento and Teulada)

39:12.064N 9:07.510E

This morning we picked up a hire car in town and set off to explore more of Sardinia.  It was great to get out of town and be back out in the beautiful countryside again.

First of all we drove down the west side of the bay to the town of Pula and on to the ruins of the ancient city of Nora.  Nora is believed to have been founded by the Phoenicians in the 8^th century BC and later colonised by the Carthaginians and finally the Romans and today it is a large archaeological site on the end of the headland.

At first I thought it was going to be disappointing as they have started to develop the site at the entrance and it was looking as if it may have as much concrete as Punic-Roman remains.  However, despite this shaky start we soon passed into the ruins of the city and we were very impressed with this huge site and the freedom that one has to roam around and imagine what it was like in Roman times.

The weather was fantastic and we strolled around in glorious sunshine, even having to take off our fleeces as we wandered around the site.  With blue skies, the hills provided a fantastic backdrop to the crystal clear waters of the bay.

Aside from several temples, the macellum (market place), the Roman theatre and paved roads, the site has several Roman baths and sewerage.  The Roman public lavatory was even placed beside the baths so that the water was recycled to flush the loo before being thrown in the sea.

From Nora we headed on south to Chia, near Capo Spartivento, which has a large white sandy beach and then took the coast road to Porto Teulada, a large but very isolated harbour some way from the nearest town.  The coastal scenery was very picturesque as the road wound around the small inhabited headlands and inlets.

With the last of the light we finally headed back through the mountainous hills to Cagliari.

Nora: ancient Punic-Roman ruins

Coastal road:  Capo Spartivento to Porto Teulada

© Pyxis 2008