nuraghe Genna Maria

Nuraghe Genna Maria stands on a cone-shaped hill near Villanovaforru in southern Sardinia. Built during the Final Bronze Age, it is a Nuragic complex of stone towers and walls. The site covers roughly 5,000 square metres and sits 409 metres above sea level. From the summit, both the Gulf of Cagliari and the Bay of Oristano can be seen on clear days. Its name comes from the Latin Janua Maris, meaning ‘Door of the Sea’. The complex was strategically placed to command views over the surrounding landscape. The site is important because it shows how Nuragic society developed its architecture and economy. The central tower dates from between 1700 and 1350 B.C. and rises about ten metres high. Around it is a three-lobed bastion, later enclosed by a hexagonal outer wall with additional towers. Archaeologists have found copper, bronze and iron objects, as well as small bronze figurines, showing advanced metalworking. A stone grape-crushing press found in one hut proves the Nuraghi made wine by the 9th century B.C., long before Phoenician traders arrived. Visitors walk through the remains of the central tower and its courtyard. The trilobate bastion and later hexagonal wall enclose the main structures. Outside the walls lie the ruins of huts, storage pits and workshops that once supported a pastoral and agricultural community. In the 4th century B.C., the central tower and courtyard were reused for agrarian rituals dedicated to Demeter. The site also preserves evidence of Sardinia’s early winemaking tradition, with stone presses and grape seeds still visible in their original positions.