40.24° N · 9.49° E · Barbagia
On top of Monte Tiscali, the roof of a cave collapsed long ago and left a sinkhole invisible from outside. Inside are a hundred Bronze Age stone huts and houses. You get there on foot, an hour and a half of steep climbing from the Lanaittu valley, and entry is €6 in cash.
Part of Barbagia
Who offers it
Independent companies: you book with them, on their terms. Prices are as they publish them and may change.
Tiscali is one of the strangest places in Sardinia. On top of the mountain of the same name, at about 500 metres, between the Supramonte of Oliena and that of Dorgali, the vault of a large karst cave collapsed and left a sinkhole, a crater of rock that cannot be seen from outside. Inside, in the shade of holm oaks and junipers, are the remains of a nuragic village.
About a hundred stone structures in two groups: to the north, about 40 round and oval huts; to the south-west, about 30 smaller houses, square or rectangular. The first phase is nuragic, from between the 15th and 8th centuries BC, with dry-stone walls. A second, of small stones bonded with mortar, is Roman, and the place was used intermittently as a refuge until the early Middle Ages. It was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. Tradition says it was the last bastion of the nuragic peoples against Rome: because of its narrow entrance, a few archers could hold back a legion.
On the side opposite the entrance, a large window in the rock opens onto the Lanaittu valley. The microclimate is mild: cool in summer and temperate in winter.
You get there on foot. The path leaves from the foot of the mountain, in the Lanaittu valley, and climbs for an hour and a half along old charcoal burners' tracks. Sardegna Turismo considers it a demanding trek: steep, with uneven stone, with a single-file stretch beside a drop of about 200 metres. A natural fissure in the rock gives access, at the end, to the sinkhole. Bring boots, plenty of water and sun protection. The return is by the same path.
To reach the Lanaittu valley, follow the SP46 from Oliena or Dorgali towards Su Gologone and turn towards Lanaittu.
If you do not know the Supramonte, go with a guide. The Cooperativa Turistica Enis, from Oliena, sets off from its hotel at Monte Maccione in a Land Rover, passes Su Gologone, crosses the Lanaittu valley and climbs with you for an hour on foot; the excursion lasts about three hours. It does not publish the price: ask when you book and check whether it includes the entry.
Entry costs €6, €3 reduced and €4 for groups, and is paid in cash only at the village hut: there is no signal for cards at the top. It is open from 9:00 to 17:00 from October to April and from 9:00 to 19:00 from May to September. It is run by the Cooperativa Ghivine, which also runs Dorgali's archaeological museum.
More to do
Itineraries
Tips
You cannot pay by card at the top.
The climb is in the sun.
Go down to eat at Su Gologone and finish at the spring.
Questions
€6; €3 reduced and €4 for groups, in cash.
An hour and a half from the foot of the mountain, in the Lanaittu valley.
It is demanding: a steep, uneven path, with a stretch beside a drop.
Yes, for example with the Cooperativa Turistica Enis from Oliena, in about three hours.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/sardinia/barbagia/things-to-do/tiscali-nuragic-village
