Olbia, Sa Testa's sacred well

The monument is located on the outskirts of the town of Olbia, a few hundred meters from the sea, in Gallura, a region of northeastern Sardinia.
The temple consists of a large circular courtyard called the 'council room', a vestibule, a staircase and a 'tholos' chamber that captures the spring vein. The courtyard (m 8.30 x 7.41) - paved and crossed by an underlying channel for the outflow of water - is delimited by a circular wall (width m 0.94; height m 0.30) that has a bank-seat along the entire development (width m 0.69/0.39; height m 0.45); it is accessed through an open entrance on the N side and equipped with a small staircase with 4 steps.
The real well temple - built with carefully sketched blocks of schist, granite and trachyte - partly preserves the vestibule, built on a lower level than the courtyard. The room, trapezoidal (length 2.62 m, max. width 2.62 m), has seats along the walls and the paved floor crossed by a drain channel. On the bottom side, there is a staircase that, with 17 steps, leads to the source. The stairwell has a roof consisting of granite slabs arranged flat at a scalar height (reproducing a sort of inverted staircase). The well chamber, circular (diam. m 1.25; height 5.25 m), is built with boulders arranged in 28 regular overhanging rows. At the base there is a platform (m 0.35) built around a circular recess (diam. m 0.50) from which the spring vein flows. Above the hypogeic cell, there was a “tholos” chamber, which is preserved for a maximum remaining height of 1.65 m. The temple dates back to between the end of the Bronze Age and the first Iron Age.
At the time of the excavation (1938), the well returned numerous finds referring to the Nuragic, Punic and Roman ages (ceramics, metals, perfume burners), a sign of a certain continuity of use almost always linked to pagan rites.

History of excavations
The site was the subject of archaeological investigation in 1938, by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage; in 1996 the structure was restored.

Bibliography
D. Levi, “Chronicle of discoveries and restorations”, in Le Arti, I-2, 1938, pp. 214-215;
D. Panedda, L'Agro di Olbia in the prehistoric, Punic and Roman periods, series “Series of Historical Studies”, 2, Rome, L'Erma, 1954, p. 65 ff., fig. 1;
E. Contu, “Restoration of a sacred well in the town of Sa Testa”, in Bullettino arte, 2-3, 1968, p. 148, fig. 17; E. Contu, “nuragic architecture”, in Ichnussa: Sardinia from its origins to the classical age, Milan,
Scheiwiller, 1981, p. 116, table. VIII a;
F. Nicosia, “Sardinia in the Classical World”, in Ichnussa: Sardinia from its origins to the classical age, Milan, Scheiwiller, 1981, pp. 481-482; F. Lo Schiavo, “Olbia (Sassari).
Localita Sa Testa”, in I Sardi: Sardinia from the Paleolithic to the Roman Age, edited by E. Anati, Milan, Jaca Book, 1984, pp. 281-283;
F. Lo Schiavo, “The Nuragic Sacred Well of Sa Testa”, in Olbia and its territory. History and Archaeology, Ozieri, Il Torchietto, 1991, pp. 133-134;
A. Antona, “Sacred Well of Sa Testa (Olbia, Sassari)”, at the 13th International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, Forlì, A.B.A.C.O, 1996, pp. 98-100; M.A. Amicano-R. D'Oriano-A. Sanciu, From Olbia to Terra Nova: historical, archaeological and monumental itineraries, Olbia, Coop. Iolao, 2004, pp. 37-40.

How to get
From Olbia, take Via dei Lidi and at the roundabout continue along Viale Italia in an industrial area, at the large roundabout continue on the SP82 in the direction of Pittulongu, next to the shopping center follow the signs that indicate the site.
ASPO urban public transport bus (www.aspo.it) line 4 to the Pozzo Sacro stop.