A few minutes from the centre of Santa Teresa Gallura, immersed in a landscape dominated by granite and Mediterranean scrub, the archaeological complex of Lu Brandali It preserves one of the most fascinating testimonies of the Nuragic civilization in the far north of Sardinia.

The site, dated between the 14th and 10th centuries BC., is much more than a single nuraghe. It comprises a complex settlement consisting of the nuraghe, the village, a giant's tomb, and numerous tafoni and rock shelters used by the area's ancient inhabitants.

The nuraghe was built taking advantage of the natural conformation of the granite promontory and developed on multiple levels. A defensive system with towers and curtain walls extended around the central keep, while in the village area archaeologists have identified 36 curvilinear huts. Around twenty tafoni located between the village and the nuraghe were used both as living spaces and for funerary purposes.

Downstream is one of the most evocative elements of the complex: the tomb of giants, large collective burial characterised by the elongated body ending in an apse and by the monumental semicircular exedra.

The excavations also yielded valuable evidence of daily life. Of particular interest are the remains of marine fauna, including sea bream, snapper, moray eels, and even a small tuna: concrete evidence of the relationship that already existed between the communities of this area and the sea in the Nuragic era.

Visiting Lu Brandali thus means entering a still perfectly legible archaeological landscape, where granite, vegetation, and remains of ancient structures tell of a Gallura inhabited and organized over three thousand years ago.

Nuragic complex of Lu Brandali
Capo Testa Street
Santa Teresa Gallura