The necropolis of Santu Pedru is located on the slope of the homonymous hill, overlooking the fertile plain below. It consists of about ten tombs of the domus de janas type (literally “fairy houses” or “witch houses”), carved into reddish trachyte rock and tuff. These tombs feature an uncovered access corridor (dromos) and a multicellular layout, meaning they have multiple chambers. Inside, they replicate architectural and decorative elements of the homes of the living (steps, bases, cornices, lintels, semicircular ceilings) and are adorned with ritual elements such as false doors, symbolizing the impenetrability of the world of the dead, bull horns symbolizing strength, fertility, and serving as apotropaic elements, and traces of red ochre paint, the color of blood and regeneration. Tomb I, called the “tetrapod vase tomb” due to the discovery of two ceramic vases with four perfectly preserved feet, is the most important as it represents one of the finest examples of large and refined domus de janas. Tomb VIII preserves traces of its transformation, in the Early Middle Ages (7th century), into a rock church dedicated to Saints Peter and Lucia. Nearby there is an arcosolium tomb (burial in a niche surmounted by an arch), dating back to the Roman era. At the top of the hill stands the Santu Pedru nuraghe, a single-tower structure built with roughly hewn trachyte blocks, around which traces of an ancient village have been found. The area was frequented from the Late Neolithic (Ozieri Culture, 3300 BC) to the Medieval Age (6th-7th centuries AD) due to the favorable territory conditions, rich in water, which favored animal husbandry and agriculture.
Information about Santu Pedru Archaeological Area
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07041 Alghero (Sassari)
329 4385947
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Source: MIBACT
