Archaeological area of Tharros

Since 5 August 2022 the site has been managed by the Mont'e Prama Foundation. To find out about visiting hours and entrance fees, consult the website: https://www.tharros.sardegna.it/

In the wonderful landscape of the Sinis, between Capo San Marco, the hill of the tower of San Giovanni and the high ground of Su Murru Mannu, lies the ancient city of Tharros between the sea and the ponds. superimposition of the different cultures that have succeeded one another from the Punic period to the early medieval one. The first evidence of the area dates back to the Nuragic period (1500-1200 BC), but the city of Tharros was founded at the end of the eighth century BC. C. by Phoenician settlers presumably from the city of Sidon.

Among the various testimonies scattered throughout the territory, the most relevant are the necropolis and the temple of Capo San Marco, the necropolis of San Giovanni di Sinis and the Phoenician tophet of Murru Mannu. Recently the ancient Phoenician Punic port, located south of the western mirror of the Mistras pond, has also been brought to light. From the end of the sixth century until 238 BC Tharros became an object of the territorial and commercial interest of Carthage. due to its strategic geographical position. The transformations that the center then undergoes are important. The remains of the imposing walls on the hill of Murru Mannu, the very rich necropolis of the south and north, the Punic tophet and the temples of the Doric semi columns, the court temple and the distyle temple date back to this period, subsequently restructured in the Roman republican phase. In 238-237 BC Tharros was conquered by the Romans. Witnesses of the slow but progressive Romanization of the city are the northern walls and the small temple on the hill of San Giovanni. The most relevant testimonies date back to the imperial age (1st century BC-4th century AD), such as the numerous thermal buildings, the traces of a small amphitheater, an important road and sewer system, the aqueduct, the castellum aquae, the forum and several temples. Among the scarce but significant testimonies of the early medieval period there is a baptismal font from the 5th-6th century. Tharros, which became the first capital of the Giudicato of Arborea, was abandoned in 1070.