Cabras, Tharros Basilica and Baptistery

The ruins of Tharros are located on Capo San Marco, the extreme O offshoot of the Sinis Peninsula.
In the post-classical era, Tharros (starting perhaps from the 5th century AD) witnessed a transformation of spaces and a redevelopment of the main monuments due to the presence in the city of a significant Christian community.
At the so-called Terme n. 1, the renovations due to the insertion of structures connected to Christian worship, in which the cathedral and its baptistery were recognized, are evident.
The baptistery, with a rectangular plan, is apsed in N/O shape. A large part of the apse and the section of the perimeter wall are still visible, up to the height of the pool, both in large square blocks. The floor is made of basalt slabs. The pool, dug into the rock, is 0.78 m deep, has a hexagonal shape and is covered with cocciopesto and defined on the edge by basalt and sandstone slabs. On the N side of the fountain, two Doric capitals remain, reused upside down as column bases, pertaining to a probable canopy roof. Between the two bases, there is also an artifact in sandstone and masonry, which has been interpreted as an episcopal chair.
The hexagonal basin, due to its type, makes it possible to compare the baptistery with similar structures in the Tunisian and Algerian areas, the Balearic Islands and Gaul. The analysis of the baptistery and the baptismal bath allows the building to be dated between the end of the 5th and the first half of the 6th century.
As for the cathedral, there are still strong doubts about its identification. In fact, it is believed that the advance of the coastline has erased a large part of the basilica, of which only the perimeter wall O made of sandstone blocks is preserved.
The area also preserves a series of rooms, which cannot be safely dated, built between the baptistery and the Terme n. 1. The thermal building was restored in late antiquity and early medieval times, creating, perhaps, a modest 'balneum' inside the 'calidarium' of the Roman baths, while the 'praefurnium' was transformed into a gateway to the actual cultural complex. At this stage, the thermal building had residential use. In the service environments, some burials came to light, dating back, thanks to the discovery of some coins and a buckle with a U-plate, to the early Byzantine age.
On the small hill to N there is a small apsidal worship room, to which we wanted to attribute, in the past, the rank of cathedral. The hypothesis is now ruled out, making it more credible to identify it in an early medieval church, perhaps that “Ecclesia Sancti Marci” mentioned in 12th century documents.
Due to the complex of early medieval rooms served by a well, on the same hill as the church, it has been thought that it could be a monastery, founded in an area of the city that is now uninhabited, perhaps after the cathedral was moved to another area.

History of excavations
After the looting of the first half of the nineteenth century by improvised diggers, the first systematic explorations began in the middle of the century, thanks to the officials of the Cagliari Museum. In 1929 Antonio Taramelli published the archaeological map of the Sinis Peninsula. From 1956 to 1964, the interventions were conducted by Gennaro Pesce, while Ferruccio Barreca worked from 1969 to 1973. Subsequently, over the last few decades, numerous excavations have been carried out by Enrico Acquaro and, recently, by Carla del Vais.

Bibliography
P. Testini, “The Tharros Baptistery”, in Proceedings of the XIII Congress on the History of Architecture. Sardinia, Rome, 1966, pp. 191-199;
R. Zucca, Tharros, Oristano, 1984; E. Acquaro-C. Finzi, Tharros, series “Archaeological Sardinia. Guides and itineraries”, Sassari, Carlo Delfino, 1986;
A.M. “Juntella, Materials for the Urban Form of Late Roman and Early Medieval Tharros”, in Materials for an Urban Topography. Status quaestionis and new acquisitions. Proceedings of the V Conference on Late Roman and Medieval Archaeology in Sardinia, Oristano, 1995, pp. 117-141;
P.G. Spanu, Byzantine Sardinia between the 6th and 7th centuries, series “Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean. Excavations and research”, Oristano, S'Alvure, 1998, pp. 78-96;
C. Del Vais, The Third Life of Tharros the Plundered City, “Darwin. Notebooks”, n. 1 (July-August 2006), pp. 76-85.

How to get
From Cabras, take the SP 6 and follow the signs for Tharros, to Capo San Marco.