We are in Anglona, a historical region in the north of Sardinia characterized above all by a hilly morphology and a coast that alternates rocky walls with beaches. During my discovery around the Sardinian hinterland I was able to admire a small village with interesting sites especially in its surroundings. Before making the itinerary I asked myself, what to see in Chiaramonti? A charming village in the most typical Sardinia, with gastronomic traditions, natural landscapes and archaeological sites of considerable interest.
What to see in Chiaramonti
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CHIARAMONTI
In the heart of the inhabited center there is the parish church dedicated to San Matteo and built in the 19th century to replace the old crumbling church. Think that it was positioned above the hill and on the ruins of the ancient castle. The small streets that all branch off from the area below the rock are very reminiscent of the Genoese Caruggi , in fact one of these streets is called Carruzzu Longu . Although Chiaramonti is a small village, it is full of initiatives that are born within the community, among other things there are many new companies that are entering the world of work. At this moment, the strength of this village is certainly the incredible archaeological heritage that is present in the municipal area, it is essential to preserve and make the most of the sites present. Here is what we discovered during our excursion.
CASTLE OF THE DORIA OF CHIARAMONTI
We know very well that Sardinia was also a land of conquests and battles. One of the best known was the one that saw the Catalan-Aragonese troops face off against those of the Dorias in the fourteenth century. We present one of the Doria castles and in these photos you can see what is left from what was once defined as part of the defensive line put in place by the Ligurians to protect all their possessions in the historic region of Anglona. Originally the castle must have consisted of a tower inserted in a mural context that contained the militias but from what we have seen, after visiting it, all that remains is the outline of the tower also because the Aragonese, after the conquest, converted everything in a church. The view of Chiaramonti from up there is also fascinating.
NECROPOLIS ON MURRONE
We are in the fourth millennium BC and the culture of Ozieri also put its stamp on a portion of land that thousands of years later became the territory of Chiaramonti. The Su Murrone necropolis are domus de janas, caves carved into the rock with the function of burial sites, they can be isolated, with one or more rooms, or grouped (always having one or more rooms) to form the so-called Necropolis. This one from Su Murrone has an inestimable value from a historical and archaeological point of view. These are 4 domus artificially obtained on a tufaceous trachyte counter, it is also said that there are others that have yet to be surveyed and studied.
Of all these the one that mainly struck me is number 3 , a real sanctuary tomb composed of an ellipsoidal antechamber and an irregularly shaped main cell on which five cells arranged in a radial pattern open. The main cell has a horizontal ceiling with a double sloping decoration with the ridge beam and 14 joists on each side, this is because they tried to reproduce the huts; on the portal of the back wall there are two taurine protomes, this to indicate a god of fertility, it is thought a bull. We were unable to visit another domus, sealed and in which numerous bone remains and lithic pickaxes were found that were used for the excavations and finishing of the domus ( all this is owned by the state ). Here is my first advice on what to see in Chiaramonti and its surroundings.
NURAGHE RUJU
It is certainly a destination for many visitors thanks to the fact that it is located near the Sassari-Tempio expressway. The Nuraghe Ruju is undoubtedly the most important and well-known nuragic site of Chiaramonti , it is worth seeing despite its fairly good state of conservation, in any case it has transmitted the charm and architectural engineering of our ancestors to me. It is a single tower, its shape is characteristic of a trunk with two superimposed chambers, with large boulders at the base and which gradually reduce to the extremity. Unfortunately I have to ascertain that some stones of the spiral staircase leading to the top have collapsed, so you have to be very careful when climbing. It is a nuraghe that must certainly be protected and preserved at any cost, we are talking about thousands of years ago, I unfortunately noticed that the same area is destined to shelter even large animals. Do you want to know a curiosity about this site? About fifty years ago a film crew invaded the area of Nuraghe Ruju to shoot scenes from Monicelli's film "Forbidden" which among other things in Sardinia had an overwhelming success, we are in 1954. Currently the Nuraghe is closed.
CHURCH MARIA MAGDALENA
Built around 1200, it also tells the story of the 2 lovers who took refuge here in the first years after construction to escape the woman's arranged marriage in the Abbey of Salvenero. Unfortunately they were captured. The church is currently in an excellent state of conservation, during our visit the interior was closed and we could only admire it from the outside. The Mary Magdalene church is thought to have been the church of a village existing in that area and named in numerous ancient texts with the name Orria Pithinna. Now some ruins of the village do not exist but numerous tiles and stones of houses have been found north of the church, in land subjected to continuous and increasingly deep excavations. This site too, together with the Ruju Nuraghe, appears in the film “Proibito”. Another uncovered site, another building to see and study in the surroundings of Chiaramonti.
