The monumental temple of Tharros

The monumental temple of Tharros is a difficult building to interpret because, in an undifferentiated context, elements dating back to chronologically different phases are found to coexist. A guiding element for reading the temple is the big die artificially carved in the sandstone bench, naturally tilted from the tower of Saint John to the sea.

This is a rectangular audience characterized by elevations decorated with still visible Doric half-columns, which formed the base of the first Templar building, dating back to between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The demolition in Roman times, of the wall that completed the perimeter of the temple, had hitherto made any hypothesis of architectural reconstruction of the Punic phase of the building random.

Thanks to the most sophisticated survey and calculation tools, today we have come to formulate the first reliable hypothesis of graphic rendering of the Punic complex. The temple had a rectangular plan, progressing in altitude from the sea side to the mountain side, thus inserted into the natural slope. A ramp led to a shelf, on which there was a rectangular open-air altar.

Update

22/9/2023 - 10:25