Villanova Truschedu, Nuraghe Santa Barbara

The nuraghe is isolated in a rural area at an altitude of 70 meters above sea level. The nuraghe is of the “tancato” type.
The original tower, with a circular plan, is accessed through a corridor that presents the spiral staircase on the ground floor and on the other a niche. The “tholos” chamber, almost intact, marginalized by two opposing niches, has a circular plan of about 7 meters in diameter. At the top of the wall, a subsidiary staircase leads to a small room located above the entrance corridor; at the bottom of this room there is a “duct” that communicates with the main staircase.
In a second construction phase, the simple nuraghe was transformed into the “tancato” type. In fact, a second smaller building was added to the original tower, on the front, connected to the first by two broken wall curtains, enclosing a courtyard. The entrance to the complex, opened on the S curtain, was through a corridor fringed by two opposing niches.

History of excavations
The building was excavated in 1915 by Antonio Taramelli.

Bibliography
A. Taramelli, The Nuraghe of Santa Barbara in Villanova Truscheddu donated to the State by cav. uff. Antonio Oppo Palmas, Rome, Typography of the Royal Accademia dei Lincei, 1916;
M. Pittau, Nuragic Sardinia, Sassari, Dessì, 1980;
M. Sequi, Nuraghi: a manual for discovering 90 great megalithic towers in Sardinia, Robbiate, Multigraf, 1985.

How to get
From the town of Villanova Truschedu, take the road that leads to the new bridge over Tirso: after atolo, turn left, continuing for about 1 km, up to the height of the nuraghe, visible on the right, and can be reached on foot in 7-8 minutes.