Hidden in a mountaintop cave deep in the Valle di Lanaittu, the mysterious nuraghic village of Tiscali is one of Sardinia’s must-see archaeological highlights. Dating from the 6th-century BC and populated until Roman times, the village was discovered in the late 19th century. At the time it was relatively intact, but since then grave robbers have done a pretty good job of looting the place, stripping the conical stone-and-mud huts down to the skeletal remains that you see today.
Despite the fragmentary condition of the ruins themselves, Tiscali is an awe-inspiring sight, with jumbled stone foundations amid holm oak and turpentine trees huddled in the eerie twilight of the limestone overhang. The inhabitants of nearby Sa Sedda ’e Sos Carros used it as a hiding place from the Romans, and its inaccessibility ensured that the Sards were able to hold out here until well into the 2nd century BC.
Local guides lead hikes – tough and steeply uphill at times – to the site.