Nobody quite knew what lay under the mound outside Barumini until the 1950s, when the archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, himself a native of the village, began to dig. What emerged was the most complete nuragic complex on Sardinia: a central stone tower built in the Bronze Age, later surrounded by a bastion with four corner towers and an outer wall, and beyond that the remains of a village of round huts. Su Nuraxi was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997, and it remains the best place on the island to understand the nuragic civilisation, which left thousands of these towers across Sardinia.
Visits are guided and take you through the narrow passageways, up stairs inside the thick walls and into the chambers of the towers. The stones are massive, laid without mortar, and the engineering is remarkable. The village huts, with their stone benches and hearths, give a sense of daily life. Across the road, Casa Zapata, the former residence of a Spanish noble family, has been turned into a museum built over another nuraghe discovered beneath it.
Barumini lies in the Marmilla, a region of gentle, rounded hills, wheat fields and small villages in south-central Sardinia. Just to the north rises the Giara di Gesturi, a basalt plateau covered with cork oaks and seasonal ponds, home to a population of small wild horses found nowhere else in Europe. Seeing them grazing among the trees, especially in spring, is a delight.
The riding is relaxed and scenic. The roads through the Marmilla roll gently over the hills, with long views and little traffic. The road up to the Giara is narrower and winding, with a few hairpins and rough patches. Further east, the roads climb into the mountains of the Sarcidano and the Barbagia, where the riding becomes more challenging and spectacular.
Barumini is small, with a few bars and a restaurant or two, but fuel is more reliable in larger towns such as Sanluri or Villamar. In summer, the heat in the Marmilla can be intense, and there is little shade at the site, so visit early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Bring water and a hat, and allow at least an hour for the visit. Afterwards, find a bar in the village and sit for a while with a cold drink and a plate of local cheese.