Ancient observatory or temple: the mystery of the well of Santa Cristina on the island of Sardinia

Modern Sardinia is part of Italy in the status of an autonomous region, and tourism plays an important role in the economy of this Mediterranean island. Sardinia has an incredibly rich history, and here you can see traces of many cultures, which attracts many travelers here. But if Roman amphitheaters and Gothic cathedrals can be seen in many other regions, then traces of the ancient Nurag culture are found in abundance only in Sardinia. We will tell you about the mysterious nurags and sacred wells of the ancient era, whose mission historians still argue about, in our material.

Nuragic culture left on the island of Sardinia many interesting monuments dating back to the II-I millennium BC. These are the so-called "tombs of giants", burials, round towers and huts made by the dry masonry of stone blocks, which are found in many parts of the island.

But the most mysterious objects, which are also referred to as nuragic culture, are the sacred wells of the island of Sardinia.

The structure of most of the ancient wells of Sardinia

Descent to the water, well Santa Cristina

One of the most famous wells is the Santa Cristina Well, near Oristano. It is very different from the rest of the wells in Sardinia and for this reason it is interesting not only for tourists. Historians from different countries are trying to explain the purpose of this building and call it a well-temple.

Well Santa Cristina, view from above.

In this regard, a number of European researchers believe that the Santa Cristina well is also an ancient observatory. In addition to Santa Cristina, two more wells deserve special mention. This is the well of Santa Vittoria and the well of Preio Canopoli, the walls of which are also lined with well-crafted and tightly fitted blocks to each other. In all likelihood, these three wells were built already at the end of the Nuragic period, so the quality of processing the material and the building itself is higher than that of the other wells.