The history of Romanzesu begins between the 16th and 15th century BC, when the settlement was built.

Between the 14th and 12th century BC Romanzesu took on a marked cult function and developed as a great sanctuary.

In the 12th–9th century BC the sacred buildings and the village were transformed and reorganised; new hut forms and spaces perhaps intended for hospitality appeared.

Between the 8th and 6th century BC the settlement was abandoned. In Roman times, between the 2nd and 3rd century AD, the area was frequented again.

THE SACRED WELL

The heart of Romanzesu is the well temple, built around a natural spring. It consists of a circular chamber enclosing the rock from which the water flows.

A staircase leads into the chamber; inside, a paved floor held the water and a low bench runs along the wall. The chamber was covered with a tholos.

Next to the well three betils were found, sacred stones set into the ground with religious or symbolic value.

THE CULT BUILDINGS

A short distance from the temple stand three rectangular sacred buildings: temples A, B and C.

Temple A preserves offering benches and supports for large vessels collecting the water used in purification rites. Temple B, adapted to the rock outcrops, is enclosed by a temenos. Temple C has a side entrance and a paved floor; bronze offerings were fixed to its bases with lead castings.

THE CEREMONIAL ENCLOSURE

Near temple A stands the monumental ceremonial enclosure, an elliptical sacred space bounded by walls leading to a small circular paved room.

Votive bronze weapons, a model of a Nuragic tower and about a thousand river pebbles confirm its character as a cult place.

THE VILLAGE AND THE WATER PATH

Romanzesu also has a village of huts of different shapes and many spaces for collective life. Among them, five large rooms with benches along the walls and sometimes a central hearth are interpreted as meeting huts.

When the spring level rose above the well, the water followed a prepared path: it crossed two passages, fed two basins and ran along a paved corridor to a large basin surrounded by steps, used for collective ceremonies.

Romanzesu hosted a stable community, at least in some phases, alongside pilgrims reaching the sanctuary.

The offerings found — bronze weapons and objects, ingots, glass-paste necklace elements and many amber beads — testify to contacts with peoples from other Mediterranean regions.

The well temple was reported by Antonio Taramelli in 1919, during water channelling works.

Excavation campaigns between the late 1980s and 2001 brought to light only a modest part of the area. The extent and overall organisation of the village remain to be defined.

Maria Ausilia Fadda, Fernando Posi, Il villaggio santuario di Romanzesu, Carlo Delfino editore, 2006.

La Sardegna nuragica. Storia e monumenti, entry “Romanzesu, Bitti (Nuoro)”, 2017.

Nurnet; La Sardegna verso l’UNESCO; SardegnaTurismo; official Romanzesu website.

The toponym Romanzesu is traced to the later Roman presence documented in the area by settlements, productive activities and inscriptions.