Here it is as seen from the beach.
Hello dear friends,
I haven't forgotten about you, but these days I've been busy with some transfers, so I'm quite occupied and overwhelmed as usual with the suitcases. Therefore, I haven't found the time to make this post. However, today I want to share with you another very interesting experience I had in Sardinia. I returned to Porto Giunco beach, one of the most important beaches in Sardinia, located in the southwest. It's in a beautiful location. I went back there not only to relive the beauty of this beach from a naturalistic point of view but also as an art lover to learn about the history of these places and maybe get to see some of their monuments up close.
In some previous posts, I had mentioned that Sardinia should be experienced not only from a naturalistic perspective but also from a historical point of view. There are many interesting archaeological sites here that, unfortunately, are often forgotten and underappreciated. Sardinia has a history dating back to the time of the pyramids. The Nuragic communities, famous for their nuraghe constructions, developed around those years. However, unlike Egypt, which managed to valorize the pyramids, the same unfortunately didn't happen in Italy.
Of course, I must say that this beach is beautiful, and perhaps the fact that it's close to a lagoon makes it even more stunning and fascinating. Besides the opportunity to see the beautiful flamingos, it's also a migratory spot for many birds. Therefore, it's an ideal place for birdwatching enthusiasts.
As I mentioned, there is a tower near the beach. That's why I went back to that place, as I wanted to climb the hill to visit it. I must say it's located in a beautiful spot, and from the top, you have a wonderful view of the entire beach and bay of Porto Giunco. Unfortunately, the tower, which was built around 1578 and can be seen in the photos, is likely made of local granite. I read that it's about 10 meters high, and as you can see from the photos, it's not in excellent condition because, in my opinion, it's not valued.
I'm not saying that they should charge an entrance fee to enjoy this cultural heritage, but I found the lack of informative signs disappointing. In the end, I had to do some research to understand the history of this tower because I'm always driven by a great curiosity about things.
Below, I will leave you some references that I consulted because, as you can understand, this spotting engine originally is powered by my curiosity. I discovered that it once had a domed roof, and internally, the top was reached by a spiral staircase. Over time, it has suffered several attacks and was even abandoned at one point. However, it was reused when Sardinia came under the rule of the House of Savoy, and it is estimated to have remained in service until 1812.
Many people come here to see the view.
Its main function was observation, especially because during that era, there were frequent raids by pirates, especially Saracen pirates, in Sardinia. Therefore, it served as a defensive outpost, which, as you can imagine, has many years of history and was very significant for Sardinia.
To reach this tower, there are many paths. I took the shortest one from the beach, but you can also get there from Villasimius by traveling about 5 km. I must say that looking at it from below, I thought it was at a much higher altitude, but I measured it with my phone, and we are approximately 50 meters above sea level. I was still happy because from that position, I managed to take some beautiful photos of the beach.
It's always a great experience to discover these places. If it weren't for a friend of mine, I probably wouldn't have known about the existence of this place. I hope that with my simple post, I can promote it and introduce it to more people. Thank you for reading this post, and see you next time.
Have a great day, everyone.