Description of the attraction
Sant Antioco is the name of an island and small town located in the southwestern part of Sardinia in the province of Carbonia Iglesias. The population of the town is about 12 thousand people, which makes it the largest in Sant'Antioco.
The island of Sant Antioco itself, with an area of 109 sq. Km. is the fourth largest in Italy after Sicily, Sardinia and the Elba. It is located 87 km from Cagliari, connected by the SS126 highway and a modern bridge. The island has two municipalities - San Antioco and Calacetta. Other small settlements include the tourist resort Maladroksia and Kussorgia.
The island was inhabited as early as the 5th millennium BC. - representatives of the Ozieri culture lived here, who were mainly engaged in fishing and agriculture. From those times, the characteristic stone tombs “Domus de Janas”, menhirs and, of course, Nuragi - Su Niu de Su Crobu, which can be translated as “crow's nest”, have survived to this day.
The city of Sant Antioco was founded in the 8th century BC. Phoenicians - then it was called Salki. A children's necropolis has been preserved from it. Later, in the 6th century BC, it became a colony of the Carthaginians, from which a necropolis also remained. At the end of the 2nd century BC. the city was conquered by the Romans, who connected it with Sardinia with the help of an artificial isthmus. In those years it was called Plumbaria.
The current name of the island and the city comes from the name of Saint Antiochus, a preacher of Christianity, who was martyred here in 125. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Sant Antioco became a fortified post of the Byzantines. Then, starting from the 8th century, it was regularly attacked by the Saracens, which forced the inhabitants of the city to leave these places and move inland. The new settlement was founded only in the middle of the 10th century by the Judicate of Cagliari (a type of hereditary feudal possession), but soon it was also abandoned. From the 14th century the island was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, later, in 1503, it was acquired by the Archbishopric of Cagliari, and finally, in 1758, it became the property of the religious order of Saints Maurizio and Lazarus. At that time, about 450 people lived here.
Today Sant'Antioco is a popular holiday destination among the people of Cagliari, which gets crowded on weekends. Tourists also come here to see ancient monuments: the early Christian basilica of Sant'Antioco, restored in 1089-1102, the Roman bridge, the ancient acropolis, Phoenician and Carthaginian necropolises. A visit to the Archaeological Museum of Ferruccio Barreca, the Fine Linen Museum and the 19th century Fort Sou Pisa can be interesting.
