Cagliari to Su Nuraxi and Orgosolo: Private day trip

Su Nuraxi di Barumini is the most important of Sardinia’s famous “nuraghes”. These megalithic structures emerged in the second millennium BC and are unique to Sardinia - in fact, there’s no parallel anywhere else in the world. These conical towers, made of heavy stone, could reach up to three stories, and had interior spiral staircases and vaulted chambers. While some 7000 nuraghes have been found, Su Nuraxi di Barumini is by far the finest. Built up from around 1500BC to 600 AD, Su Nuraxi consists of a central tower, and four corner towers connected by a bastion, all of which is surrounded by some 50 huts, wells and cisterns. A guided tour will bring you through the site, through the small single room huts where the villagers lived, and up the 3500-year-old staircase to the top of the tower so you can see the settlement from above.

The Orgosolo Murals are a 20th century outlet for an anti-authoritarian streak running back thousands of years. The Romans had trouble conquering them, and even as recently as 1969 the shepherds rebelled against the Italian army when they tried to build a base on their shared lands. During this period of social strife, an anarchist theatre company calling themselves Dioniso created the first of Orgosolo’s murals. After that, communist teacher Francesco Del Casino and his art students began painting more murals to remember the Resistance and Liberation of Italy from Fascism, share their political beliefs and criticize social injustices. And not just local ones - the huge, cubist graphics address everything from Vietnam to Gaza. But not all of Orgosolo’s murals are socially charged - some simply pay homage to daily rural life. To aid in your mural hunting, you can buy an English-language guide from one of the handful of souvenir shops.