Prof. Bertinetto Bartolomeo Davide: Travel Trail from Camping Calacavallo to the Nuraghe of Su Entosu

Scorching heat on the way back!

First village after the beaches

Sardinia 20-07-2024 - I have to write that I had been wanting to visit some nuraghe for a while, and the opportunity of a vacation in Sardinia was perfect. The problem was more about which site to choose, as the Capo Coda Cavallo area doesn't have any. So, after a brief internet search, I found one 20 km from my camping area, the Nuraghe Su Entosu.

Entrance to San Teodoro

I reworked the route many times on the GPS, as I was never convinced of the road, since the landscape of this area of Sardinia is quite barren and full of dense Mediterranean scrub made up of dry, decidedly thorny shrubs! During some explorations around the campsite, I saw that some roads, although present on the maps, were closed when I tried to travel them.

Then there was also the problem of the very busy road without a shoulder beyond the side line, making it very difficult and risky for pedestrians to pass

Well-deserved ritual coffee

With an alarm set for 4:30 AM and departure at 5:30 AM, I finally managed to cut off a large part of the main road by passing through some beaches (Cala Brandinchi and Lu Impostu), although the kilometers on the sand were really slow! Then, upon reaching the first villages, I took dirt roads, already very hot in the early morning and extraordinarily dusty.

Salt pan in the distance

The 'journey' continued towards the lively town of San Teodoro, where, however, there are no fountains. This was a big problem on the way back, as the heat in the following hours would become unbearable.

Continuing, I passed through the small village of Lu Miriagheddu, then Padula Sicca, and again other beaches to reach the 'deserted' cliff area, where I completely left urbanization behind. Just before the border with Santo Diadoru, I ventured into the Mediterranean scrub, slightly climbing in elevation, and thus reached the destination of the trip, the Nuraghe Su Entosu, at 9:30 in the morning.

Church of San Teodoro

A finally shaded place, where I notice various piles of stones in an almost circular shape. The nuraghi are very ancient constructions, undoubtedly prehistoric in my opinion; in fact, the less accredited theories consider them perhaps among the oldest in Europe!

The Nuragic civilization consisted of skilled warriors and architects. Often, nuragic structures had a tower shape, and the official dating is between 1800 BC and 500 AD (source), although there are other schools of thought that place them much further back in time.

In fact, some scholars propose theories that place the nuraghi in an even older era than commonly accepted. According to these theories, the nuraghi could have origins dating back to the Neolithic, around 4000-3000 BC, based on similarities with other European megalithic structures (source).

Dog beach!

Thus, these alternative theories, which are very fascinating, should not be dismissed at all:

1.
Neolithic Origins: Some archaeologists suggest that the nuraghi could be an evolution of pre-existing structures like dolmens and menhirs, which were already present in Sardinia during the Neolithic (source).
2.
External Influences: Other scholars hypothesize that the nuraghi may have been influenced by external cultures, such as the Mycenaean or Minoan, which had already developed similar structures (tholoi) in earlier periods (source).

However, controversies and debates are not lacking, and these theories are not universally accepted, remaining a subject of discussion among experts.

The nuraghe I visited, being in ruins, does not attract much interest, and there is little information about Su Entosu (source).

Me in front of the piles of the Nuraghe

Moreover, according to some 'alternative experts', Sardinia and its nuragic villages coincide with the mythical lost civilization of Atlantis (source). This was a new Travel Trail that I completed in about 8 hours and 30 minutes, covering a distance of just over 42 km. The heat was so high that it exceeded 40 degrees! I could clearly feel it from the scorching grip of my poles, which allowed me to run only until 8:30 in the morning.

One of the 2 fountains encountered along the way

This 'outdoor' adventure is still limited to my camper vacations with the family. However, as I have mentioned on several occasions, the plan after completing my osteopathic studies, which I hope to finish soon, is to travel to other parts of the world and Italy specifically to undertake new Travel Trails, perhaps with a pseudo-archaeological theme, as it is a science I am very passionate about, especially when it comes to less accredited alternative theories! Let's see what happens...

I also write on this occasion that everything was prepared using the Weekly Mono-training technique, detailed in the book 'Ultratrail with Mono-training' by Fusta Editore (source). After all, the aim of the Mono-training Technique is to allow the practitioner to achieve exceptional sports longevity without compromising joint functionality, focusing on active recovery.

GPS Track by WikiLOc:

https://it.wikiloc.com/percorsi-escursionismo/camping-calacavallo-nuraghe-su-entosu-178133055