Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu and Necropolis of Sos Furrighesos

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu

   Sardinia is covered in small rock-cut tombs called domus de janas, the houses of the fairies, or of the witches depending on who tells the story. They were carved into soft rock by the island's Neolithic and Copper Age communities, more than five thousand years ago, and there are thousands of them, from single chambers to complex underground houses for the dead. The necropolis of Monte Siseri, near the village of Putifigari in the hills behind Alghero, includes the tomb known as S'Incantu, the enchantment, one of the most elaborate on the island. Its chambers imitate the interior of a house, with carved details such as roof beams, pillars and doorways, and traces of red and black paint that once decorated the walls. The domus de janas have recently joined the UNESCO World Heritage list, a long-overdue recognition of Sardinian prehistory.

   Read the complete Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu is where the day begins. Next is Necropolis of Puttu Codinu.

2. 2. Necropolis of Puttu Codinu

   Domus de janas means houses of the fairies, and that is what Sardinians called the small chambers cut into rock faces across the island, believing them to be the homes of tiny supernatural women. They are in fact tombs, carved out by the island's Neolithic and Copper Age people some five thousand years ago, often with rooms arranged like houses, carved doorways, false roof beams and symbols such as bulls' horns. The necropolis of Puttu Codinu, near Villanova Monteleone in north-west Sardinia, is a group of these tombs cut into a low limestone outcrop amid fields and scrub, one of thousands across the island.

   Read the complete Necropolis of Puttu Codinu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Necropolis of Puttu Codinu comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Petroglyph Park-a.

3. 3. Petroglyph Park-a

   The north-west of Sardinia is a country of low volcanic hills, pasture, cork oak and stone, and the villages of the Logudoro are small, quiet and far older than they look. This area, around Cheremule and Giave, is dotted with traces of a world that predates the Romans by a very long time. The island's prehistoric people carved tombs into soft rock, the domus de janas, which translates as fairy houses, and built round stone towers called nuraghi, of which there are thousands.

   Read the complete Petroglyph Park-a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Petroglyph Park-a. Next is Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu.

4. 4. Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu

   Four or five thousand years ago, people on the high plateau of Campo di Santa Lucia in Sardinia carved a whole apartment of rooms into a cliff of soft volcanic rock, to house their dead. The Sardinians call these rock-cut tombs domus de janas, houses of the fairies, and Sant'Andrea Priu, near Bonorva, has some of the most remarkable. The largest, known as the Tomba del Capo, has a series of chambers whose walls and ceilings imitate the beams and pillars of a real house. Centuries later, in the early Christian and Byzantine period, it was converted into a church and its walls were painted with frescoes, some of which survive.

   Read the complete Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu, about halfway. Next is Necropolis of Sos Furrighesos.

5. 5. Necropolis of Sos Furrighesos

   In the Goceano hills of north-central Sardinia, a low cliff of pale volcanic rock above the village of Anela hides one of the island's more striking prehistoric cemeteries. Sos Furrighesos is a cluster of domus de janas, the rock-cut tombs whose Sardinian name means houses of the fairies, carved into the face of the stone by Neolithic farmers some five thousand years ago. Some of the chambers are simple niches; others open into several rooms, and a few still carry carved reliefs of bull horns, a symbol you meet again and again in Sardinian prehistory.

   Read the complete Necropolis of Sos Furrighesos write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Necropolis of Sos Furrighesos sits at 78 km, about halfway. Next is back through Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu.

6. 6. back through Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Necropolis of Sant'Andrea Priu comes up about 174 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Petroglyph Park-a.

7. 7. back through Petroglyph Park-a

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Petroglyph Park-a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 196 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Petroglyph Park-a. Next is back through Necropolis of Puttu Codinu.

8. 8. back through Necropolis of Puttu Codinu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Necropolis of Puttu Codinu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Necropolis of Puttu Codinu, late in the day. Next is Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu.

9. 9. Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Necropolis of Monte Siseri/S'Incantu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 252 km.