Turris Libisonis, today Porto Torres, was founded by the Romans in the 1st century BC in the center of the Gulf of Asinara, in an optimal position for establishing a river port at the mouth of the Rio Mannu. The only colony in the Sardinia province (together with Uselis) made up of Roman citizens, it bore the name “Iulia” as its foundation was attributed to Caesar himself or to Octavian. On the island, it was second only to Caralis in population, magnificence, and commercial trade.
The first settlement was located on both banks of the Rio Mannu. At the height of its development, between the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, the city reorganized near the new port, perhaps near the current dockyard. Urban growth halted in the early 5th century, coinciding with the severe crisis of the Western Roman Empire.
Important remains of its magnificent public buildings and significant vestiges of neighborhoods from the early and middle imperial age are still visible today. The bridge over the Rio Mannu, dating back to the 1st century AD and perfectly preserved, is an exceptional feat of engineering. It rests on seven arches of decreasing span and provided direct connection of the city with the fertile fields of Nurra. Of the three thermal complexes the city possessed (“Maetzke Baths,” “Pallottino Baths,” and “Central Baths”), the “Central Baths” (3rd-4th century) have left the most significant traces and constitute the core of the archaeological area. Also known as the “Palace of King Barbaro,” perhaps named after an unknown city governor, they still preserve the structures of the large halls, frigidarium, tepidarium, and calidarium, with pools and simple yet refined mosaics. In the area located between the Antiquarium Turritano and the “Central Baths,” remains of houses are found which formed insulae (blocks) and tabernae (shops), some of which are incorporated and visible inside the Antiquarium. The buildings are bounded by streets paved with volcanic stone slabs. There are abundant remains of marble decorations, bas-reliefs, statues; among them are four marble columns of the “Pallottino peristyle,” belonging to a portico originally paved with marble slabs.
Around the perimeter of the ancient city are extensive necropolis areas of particular interest, with burials ranging from the early imperial age to the Paleochristian era: the western necropolis on the left bank of the Rio Mannu, the southern one beneath the current city center, and the eastern, on the waterfront. The latter includes the hypogeum of Tanca Borgona, the funerary complex of Scogliolungo, the Balai tombs, and the hypogeal complex of San Gavino a mare.
Information on Roman City and Archaeological Park of Turris Libisonis
Via Ponte Romano, no. 99,
07046 Porto Torres (Sassari)
349 5757197, 333 2541314
sba-ss.sedeportotorres@beniculturali.it
https://www.archeossnnu.beniculturali.it
Source: MIBACT
