Bultei, Nuraghe Tilariga

The monument stands on the ridge of the mountain that overlooks the town of Bultei, on a granite spur (1039 m above sea level), in the Gocean, a region of central-northern Sardinia.
The nuraghe is a complex building consisting of a central tower to which a bastion has been placed with three secondary towers connected by concave-convex curtains: two towers are placed on the front, the third is offset to the d. (towards N). The bastion has a curved eastern front (height 5.00 m) at the center of which the entrance opens (width 1.10 m; height 1.60 m), now partially obstructed. On the top of the wall, eight triangular-shaped shelves are inserted, forming part of a balcony that originally developed along the crowning of the building; three other shelves are moved from their original headquarters and two are placed on the ground in front of the monument. The entrance to the bastion leads into a flat corridor strung inwards (length 5.00 m; width 1/2.25 m), which is overlooked by the entrances to five rooms. On the wall d. there is the opening of a short passage (length m 2.25; width m 1.00) that leads to the chamber of the tower d. The room, with an ovoid plan with an almost intact vault (diam. m 2.85/3.50; height m 2.90), has no subsidiary rooms. On the first wall, a little further on, there is the entrance to a trumpet gate (length 2.00 m; width 0.75/1.25 m) that leads into the chamber of the left tower: this room, circular in plan (diam. m 3.30) and without niches, preserves the roof intact. Both rooms of the front towers are made of freshly sketched boulders arranged in irregular rows. At the bottom of the entrance gate to the monument, the entrances face two connecting rooms delimited by the wall of the main tower: on the right, a narrow corridor with an ogival roof - today not passable - led to the compartment of the third decentralized tower; a stairwell with steps (width 0.70 m), obstructed by the collapse, originally led to the top of the bastion. At the bottom of the entrance gate, there is access to the main tower, unusable due to the collapse. The keep can be visited, today, from the roof, descending through the opening of the spiral staircase that opens onto the upper wall of the entrance to the room. The latter, circular in plan (diam. m 2.70/3.25; height 3.60 m), preserves intact the “tholos” built with large stones arranged in irregular rows. On the floor plan of the room, two niches with triangular light open: the first, larger, is located on the floor (depth 1.85 m; height 1.80 m); the second (depth 1.70 m; height 1.70 m) opens almost in line with the entrance compartment. The nuraghe dates back to 1400-1000 BC.

History of excavations
The nuraghe dates back to the nineteenth century.

Bibliography
V. Angius, in G. Casalis, Dizionario geografico storico-statistico-commerciale degli Stati di S.M.. il re di Sardegna, II, Torino, G. Maspero, 1834, p. 694;
A. Taramelli, "Foglio 194: Ozieri", in Edizione archeologica della carta d'Italia al 100.000, 4, Firenze, Istituto geografico militare, 1931, p. 58, figg. 4-5;
E. Contu, "L'Età nuragica", in M. Brigaglia, La Provincia di Sassari. I secoli e la storia, Sassari, Provincia di Sassari, 1983, p. 28;
G. Lilliu, La civiltà dei Sardi dal paleolitico all'età dei nuraghi, Torino, Nuova ERI, 1988, p. 503, fig. 187;
G. Manca, "Bultei. Loc. Tilariga", in I Sardi: la Sardegna dal paleolitico all'età romana, a cura di E. Anati, Milano, Jaca Book, 1984, pp. 290-291.

How to get there
Leave the town of Bultei and take the SS 128 bis; travel it for a short distance to Km 22 and turn into an uphill road. Proceed for 11 km and, as soon as you pass the Ispedrunele pass, take the road that leads to the country church of Our Lady of the Altitude to the right; an easy path opened near the sanctuary (at a distance of about 450 m) leads, after a short while, to the monument.