What is Barumini known for?

Sardegna's first UNESCO inscription, type example of Bronze Age nuragic architecture excavated by Giovanni Lilliu in the 1950s. Wild horse population on the basalt plateau above the village, roughly 600 animals living free across the Giara di Gesturi. Aragonese-Spanish noble house built on a second nuraghe, the Bronze Age stones still visible under the museum's glass floors.

Barumini is a comune in the province of Sud Sardegna, Sardinia region of Italy, about 66 kilometers from Cagliari.

Sardinia · Sud Sardegna

Barumini

A Marmilla village at the foot of the Giara di Gesturi whose Bronze Age nuraghe became Sardegna's first UNESCO site.

66 km / 41 mi

Nearest hub (Cagliari)

1,156

Population

Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

Best time to visit

Recognised as

UNESCO

Why come

Barumini sitsin the Marmilla, 55 kilometers north of Cagliari, on the plain at the foot of the Giara di Gesturi basalt plateau. About 1,150 people live here. The village would be a small inland farming town except for what sits half a kilometer outside it. Su Nuraxi is the most complete and most studied nuraghe complex on the island, an 18-meter Bronze Age central tower with four side towers, a 20-meter well, and a village of huts that grew around the citadel between roughly 1500 and 100 BC. Giovanni Lilliu excavated the site between 1950 and 1957. UNESCO inscribed it in 1997, the first Sardinian entry on the World Heritage list, as the type example of the nuragic civilization that has no parallel anywhere else. The Casa Zapata in the village houses a Spanish-era noble residence built directly on top of a second nuraghe, the two structures exposed under a glass floor. The Giara plateau above the village holds wild horses, the cavallini della Giara.

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Gallery

6 photos · scroll →

Known for

Su Nuraxi di Barumini
Bronze Age nuragic complex, 18-meter central tower with four bastions and surrounding village, UNESCO World Heritage since 1997.
Casa Zapata
Spanish-era noble residence built over a second nuraghe, the underlying Bronze Age tower visible under glass floors of the museum.
Giara di Gesturi
Basalt plateau above the village at 500-600 meters, home to wild cavallini della Giara horses and seasonal paulis ponds.
Centro Giovanni Lilliu
Visitor and research centre at the entrance to the archaeological park, named for the archaeologist who led the 1950s excavations.
Chiesa dell'Immacolata Concezione
Parish church of the village, the main religious building in the historic centre at the foot of the Giara plateau.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through November are the easiest months at Su Nuraxi. Spring brings green Marmilla wheat fields and wild flowers on the Giara above. October sees the harvest and the autumn migrations through the basalt ponds. Summer in July and August is hot, often over thirty-five degrees, and the nuragic site offers limited shade. Tour buses still come; mornings before eleven and the late afternoon after five are workable, the middle of the day less so. Winter is quiet but mild. The Bronze Age stones in slanting February light, with the Giara above, are the photograph the site is remembered for.