Bidonì, Temple of Jupiter

The remains of the temple are located in Barigadu, on the hill of S'Onnarìu (279 m above sea level) that dominates the valley of the Meana river, a tributary of the river Tirso.
The monumental structure, with a rectangular plan (26 x 20 m), oriented N/O-S/E, is detectable exclusively at the level of the foundation of the walls, since in all probability the squared vulcanite blocks, with which the building was built, were reused in subsequent periods for the construction of the neighboring churches of San Pietro (12th century) and Santa Maria de Ossolo (XVI-XVII century), as well as for the paving of a large farmyard (sa arzola 'and Onnarìu).
The temple is preceded by a staircase (?) terrace that allows you to overcome the difference in altitude between the summit plateau and the area below S/E.
The attribution of the building to the greatest Roman deity, Iuppeter (Jupiter), is due to the discovery in situ of a rock altar, located at the staircase, in line with the building's façade (a m 7.5 m above sea level). It has a parallelepiped shape and has a trapezoidal plane on the S/E side, where the priest assigned to the ceremony took his place; on the two short sides, in a rectangular space embedded and framed by raised bands, two short Latin inscriptions can be read: “Dei” (?) and 'Iovis', to be understood in all probability '(ara) dei Iovis', or 'altar of the god Jupiter'.
The occupation of the site dates back to a period between the end of the second century BC and the first half of the first century BC, as demonstrated by the rare fragments of black-painted pottery found on the surface.
The presence of a place of worship of Jupiter on the border with “Barbaria” has a precise political meaning of affirming the Roman presence even in the less Romanized areas of the island, since it is perhaps linked to the celebration of a Roman triumph over the Sardinians.
It is also likely that the spread of the cult of Jupiter in this area testifies to the existence of a syncretism between the Roman deity and an indigenous divinity, perhaps the prehistoric and protohistoric tauromorphic divinity.

History of excavations
In 1997, the area was the subject of a surface survey by Raimondo Zucca and Armando Saba. Archaeological excavations are in progress.

Bibliography
R. Zucca, “Ave Iuppiter!” , in Sardinia exhibition, April-May, 1997, without pages;
R. Zucca, “A rock altar of Iuppetr in Sardinian Barbaria”, in Roman Africa. Proceedings of the 12th study conference (Oristano, 12-15 December 1996), Sassari, Gallizzi, 1998, pp. 1205-1211.

How to get there
Leave the SS 131 at the junction near Abbasanta and turn onto the SS 131 dir, direction Nuoro. After a few kilometers, at the Ghilarza junction, turn right up and take the SP 15; you cross the towns of Boroneddu and Tadasuni, the Tirso river and continue to Bidonì. From the town, take the road that leads to the hill of S'Onnarìu (Monti Onnarìu) in the NE direction and follow it for about 1 km.