Sardinia is Italy's second-largest island, famed for its pristine turquoise waters, rugged interior mountains, and ancient Nuragic civilizations. The island offers an extraordinary blend of dramatic coastlines, traditional villages, and vibrant cities that remain authentically Italian.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Sardinia.
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1
Pre-Nuragic Sardinians
The earliest inhabitants of Sardinia arrived from mainland Europe and North Africa around 6000 BC. Pre-Nuragic cultures include the Ozieri culture (3200–2700 BC), famous for its extraordinary pottery, and the builders of the Domus de Janas (fairy houses) — rock-cut tombs carved into the island's limestone. The Bonu Ighinu and Arzachena cultures created megalithic monuments including the proto-nuraghi and the first Giants' Tombs.
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2
Nuragic Civilisation
The most remarkable and mysterious of Sardinian cultures, the Nuragic civilisation flourished for over 1,500 years and constructed more than 7,000 truncated-cone towers (nuraghi) across the island. The Nuragic people were sophisticated bronze-smiths, traders who reached Mycenaean Greece, Phoenicia, and Egypt, and creators of extraordinary art including the famous bronzetti (small bronze figurines). They buried their dead in collective tombs called tombe di giganti (Giants' Tombs). The Nuragic civilisation appears to have no clear parallel in the Mediterranean world.
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3
Phoenician Colonisation
Phoenician traders from Tyre and Sidon began establishing trading posts on Sardinia's coasts around 900 BC. The key Phoenician settlements included Tharros (near Oristano), Nora (near Pula), Cagliari (Karalis), and Sulcis (Sant'Antioco). The Phoenicians coexisted with the Nuragic people in coastal areas, maintaining trade and cultural exchange while the interior remained Nuragic. When Carthage superseded Phoenicia, these settlements became Punic (Carthaginian) towns.
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4
Roman Sardinia
Rome seized Sardinia from Carthage in 238 BC following the First Punic War. Sardinia became one of Rome's first overseas provinces and a major grain and silver supplier. Roman rule was accepted in the coastal cities but fiercely resisted in the interior — the Barbagia mountains were among the last areas of the entire Roman Empire to be Christianised. Emperor Augustus described the island as unhealthy and barely worth holding. Despite this, Sardinia received significant Roman infrastructure: roads, theatres, amphitheatres, and temples.
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5
Vandals, Byzantines, and Arab Raids
After Rome's collapse, Sardinia passed to the Vandals (456 AD) and then to the Byzantine Empire (534 AD). Byzantine rule lasted several centuries and left churches and fortifications, though the interior remained largely autonomous. From the 8th century, Arab raids began devastating the Sardinian coasts, forcing many coastal populations to move inland. In response, local Sardinian leaders (giudici — judges) established four independent kingdoms: Cagliari, Arborea, Torres, and Gallura.
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6
Pisan and Genoese Influence
The Italian maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa competed for influence in Sardinia during the Middle Ages, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of Romanesque churches and fortifications. Pisa controlled the south (Cagliari), while Genoa held the north. This period saw the construction of many of Sardinia's most beautiful Romanesque churches in pale limestone, often remote in the countryside.
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7
Aragonese and Spanish Rule
In 1297, Pope Boniface VIII granted the 'Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica' to the Crown of Aragon. Aragon had to fight for the island against the Giudicato of Arborea — the last independent Sardinian state, which held out until 1420 under the heroic Judge Eleonora d'Arborea, who issued the Carta de Logu (a progressive legal code). Under 400 years of Spanish rule, Sardinian society was feudalised, the economy declined, and much of the coastal population retreated from piracy. Alghero was repopulated with Catalan settlers in 1354 and retains its Catalan character to this day.
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8
House of Savoy
Following the War of the Spanish Succession, Sardinia was transferred to the Duke of Savoy in 1718 in exchange for Sicily. The Savoyard Kings of Sardinia gave the island its formal title (Kingdom of Sardinia) and established Turin as the royal capital of a state that would eventually unify Italy. Sardinia remained largely feudal and underdeveloped under Savoy, though the abolition of feudalism in 1820 began a slow modernisation.
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9
Italian Unification and Modern Era
Sardinia became part of unified Italy in 1861. The 20th century brought significant changes: the drainage of malarial marshes, construction of new towns, the Second World War (Cagliari was heavily bombed), and post-war economic challenges driven by the collapse of traditional mining. In 1948, Sardinia gained Special Autonomous Region status, giving it greater control over its affairs. Since the 1960s, the tourism industry — particularly Costa Smeralda, developed by the Aga Khan in 1962 — has transformed the northern economy. Today Sardinia remains one of Italy's five special autonomous regions.
Historical sites
Places where Sardinia's past comes alive.
Su Nuraxi di Barumini
Su Nuraxi is a vast Bronze Age complex built around a central three-storey tower of basalt blocks, surrounded by four corner towers and an extensive village of circular dwellings. Excavated by archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu from 1949, it remains the benchmark for understanding the Nuragic civilisation. The central keep originally rose nearly 19 metres.
Where: Barumini, South Sardinia (Medio Campidano)
Admission: €15 combined ticket with Casa Zapata museum and Centro Giovanni Lilliu; reductions for children and seniors
Nora Archaeological Site
Set on a slender peninsula by the sea, Nora preserves a Phoenician, Punic and Roman town with a well-preserved Roman theatre, thermal baths with mosaic floors, paved streets, and the foundations of temples and houses. Part of the ancient city now lies submerged just offshore.
Where: Pula, South Sardinia
Admission: €8.50 site ticket; combined tickets with Pula civic museum available
Tharros
Tharros spreads across the Capo San Marco headland with Roman streets, a basalt-paved decumanus, thermal baths, Punic tophet, temple foundations, and remains of the aqueduct, all between two seas. The site's Corinthian columns standing against the water are among Sardinia's most photographed ruins.
Where: Cabras, Sinis Peninsula, Oristano Province
Admission: €9 site ticket; combined ticket with Cabras civic museum (home of the Mont'e Prama Giants)
Nuraghe Santu Antine
Standing in the 'Valley of the Nuraghi', Santu Antine is a complex trilobate nuraghe whose central tower once reached around 24 metres. Its remarkable internal corridors, spiral staircases and concentric chambers show the engineering peak of Nuragic architecture.
Where: Torralba, Logudoro, Sassari Province
Admission: €6 site ticket; combined ticket with the Torralba 'Valle dei Nuraghi' museum
Tiscali Nuragic Village
Tiscali sits concealed within an enormous limestone cavern on Monte Tiscali, where Nuragic Sardinians built circular stone dwellings sheltered from view — likely a refuge during Roman times. The reward of the hidden village follows a demanding hike through the wild Lanaittu Valley.
Where: Supramonte, between Oliena and Dorgali, Nuoro Province
Admission: Around €5 site fee; guided treks priced separately by local operators
Necropolis of Anghelu Ruju
Anghelu Ruju is a complex of underground chamber tombs carved into the soft sandstone, some decorated with carved bull's-horn protomes and architectural details imitating houses of the living. It documents funerary culture across more than a millennium before the nuraghi.
Where: Near Alghero, Sassari Province
Admission: €5 site ticket; combined tickets with Palmavera nuraghe available
Roman Amphitheatre of Cagliari
The amphitheatre of ancient Karalis could seat an estimated 10,000 spectators and hosted gladiatorial games and wild-beast hunts. Much of the cavea was cut directly into the limestone, and the tiers, corridors and underground chambers remain visible above the city.
Where: Cagliari, South Sardinia
Admission: Around €5 (subject to restoration works); check current access locally
Basilica di San Saturnino
Built over the burial place of San Saturnino, martyred under Diocletian, this domed early-Christian basilica is among the most ancient surviving churches on the island. Its Greek-cross core and reused Roman columns testify to Cagliari's late-antique Christian community.
Where: Cagliari, South Sardinia
Admission: Free or small donation; archaeological area may charge a modest fee
Castello di San Michele
Crowning the Colle di San Michele above the city, this three-towered castle controlled the approaches to Cagliari and changed hands through the Giudicato of Cagliari, Pisan, and Aragonese periods. Now restored, it serves as a cultural and exhibition centre with panoramic views.
Where: Cagliari, South Sardinia
Admission: Around €4 for exhibitions; park access free
Tomba dei Giganti di Coddu Vecchiu
Coddu Vecchiu's striking feature is its towering carved central stele, over 4 metres high, framing the entrance to a long burial gallery. These exedra-fronted tombs were the communal cemeteries of Nuragic clans and are unique to Sardinia.
Where: Arzachena, Gallura, North Sardinia
Admission: Around €5; combined ticket with the nearby Nuraghe La Prisgiona available