• Casa Zapata Museum - Casa Zapata is a stunning and intricate residence, commissioned by the noble Zapata family from the late 16th century. The family arrived in Sardinia in 1323 with Prince Alfonso to conquer the land, and in 1541, they purchased the Barony of Las Plassas, Barumini, and Villanovafranca, becoming landlords and later barons until the abolition of feudalism. The residence includes several notable buildings: a beautiful house with an elegant garden built between the late 16th and early 17th centuries to serve as the feudal lord’s house and baronial home, and two other structures from the early 1900s used as storehouses, stables, and a farmer’s house, all surrounding a large open courtyard. Opposite Casa Zapata is the Parish Church dedicated to the Blessed Immaculate Virgin Mary, likely commissioned by the same noble Aragon family.

Today, the Spanish residence houses the Casa Zapata Museum, organized into three sections. The Archaeological Section is located in the oldest part of the residence, a beautiful palace built in the classical style imposed by Philip II, mirroring the Zapata family’s mansion in Cagliari. This 17th-century building was identified as ideal for preserving significant finds from the Su Nuraxi archaeological zone. After the death of the last baroness, Donna Concetta Ingarao Zapata, in the 1980s and a period of neglect, the Municipality of Barumini acquired the property in 1987. Restoration work began in 1990, but was halted due to the discovery of an impressive nuraghe complex beneath the palace. Since then, numerous excavation campaigns have taken place, and the museum project was adapted to preserve the palace’s structure while allowing visitors to view the nuraghe from above via footbridges and glass floors.

Entering the 16th-century palace and unexpectedly encountering a remarkable nuraghe is a unique experience. Professor Giovanni Lilliu had written, even before the archaeological excavations began, that near the palace, ancient people had established a nuraghe and a village around it. He named the nuraghe Su Nuraxi ‘e Cresia (the nuraghe of the church) due to its proximity to the Parish Church. The Nuragic people chose this site for its flat, elevated ground, which provided a strategic vantage point and access to water sources. One possible function of nuraghes was military.

Su Nuraxi ‘e Cresia is a complex trilobate nuraghe, consisting of a central tower (the keep) and three surrounding towers connected by straight curtain walls. It features two courtyards, one inside the trilobate rampart and another outside. Excavations since 2005 in the outer courtyard have revealed the original paved floor, dating back to the Recent Bronze Age. Excavations inside Casa Zapata and in the northern part have uncovered two defensive walls and a village settlement.

Archaeologists can only hypothesize the chronological stages of the monument’s history: first, the construction of the keep; then the southern and eastern towers and their curtain walls; and finally, the western tower, built with basalt, indicating a change in building material. The archaeological finds from Su Nuraxi ‘e Cresia span from the Nuragic Age (Recent Bronze 1300 B.C. and Final Bronze 1100-800 B.C.) to the Roman (Late-Republican and Late-Imperial) and Early Middle Ages. After the Old Age, Su Nuraxi ‘e Cresia was used during the Judicial Age until the construction of the Zapata Palace.

The towers, originally much taller, are now missing their upper parts. They had a truncated-cone shape with circular rooms stacked on top of each other. Today, visitors can see the keep and the eastern tower inside Casa Zapata, while the southern and western towers, defensive walls, and village extend outside the structure. Basalt, a hard volcanic rock from the Giara plateau, was used sporadically in this nuraghe, which was mainly constructed with massive polygonal blocks of local marl arranged in horizontal rows.

The archaeological section also houses a prestigious collection of over 180 artifacts from the Su Nuraxi archaeological zone, excavated by Professor Giovanni Lilliu in the 1950s and restored by local archaeological technicians.

The Historical Section is located in one of the more recent buildings of the residence, previously used as warehouses or stables. It displays important documents belonging to the Zapata family and the Barumini community. Visitors can view original papers, once thought lost but recently found by the Municipality of Barumini. Additionally, digital copies of documents from Andrea Lorenzo Ingarao Zapata di Las Plassas’s private collection, the grand-nephew of the last baron’s wife, are available for viewing.

The Ethnographic Section, also in one of the more recent buildings, features a small room displaying common tools used by Barumini inhabitants and neighboring villages in the last century. It also includes the Regional Museum of Launeddas, dedicated to the oldest Sardinian musical instrument, with assistance from master Luigi Lai.

• Su Nuraxi - Visiting Barumini and its surroundings reveals a world rich in history and tradition. From the moment you approach this small village in Marmilla, located in the heart of Sardinia, you can sense its unique atmosphere, a place of power and central importance in a fertile land full of marvels and key communication routes since ancient times.

The most significant testament to this glorious past is the Su Nuraxi archaeological zone. Discovered and excavated in the 1950s by the renowned archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, the area features an impressive complex nuraghe built in phases starting from the 15th century B.C., surrounded by an extensive village of huts developed over the centuries. This remarkable site has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997 due to its uniqueness.

The Nuragic civilization flourished in Sardinia over approximately 1000 years (1500-500 B.C.), creating a complex social structure with communities divided into different social classes. Over 7000 nuraghes (single towers and complex nuraghes) have been identified across the island, with about thirty in the Barumini area. Su Nuraxi is the most representative of complex nuraghes, consisting of multiple towers. These structures, primarily built between the Middle and Recent Bronze Ages, served a military function similar to medieval castles, defending the surrounding lands. They were later adapted and reused up to the Iron Age and sometimes by subsequent inhabitants.

Su Nuraxi exhibits cultural layers spanning over 2000 years, from 1500 B.C. to the 7th century A.D. Different development stages are identifiable through building sequences and material culture evidence. The primary building material is basalt, a hard volcanic rock found on the slopes of the Giara plateau.

In the Middle Bronze Age (1500-1300 B.C.), the central tower (the keep) was constructed, a simple nuraghe with a tholos, a truncated cone tower with circular rooms and a false dome-shaped roof. The keep, originally 18.6 meters high, had three rooms connected by staircases within the wall thickness.

During the Recent Bronze Age (1300-1100 B.C.), four towers, originally 14 meters high, were added to the central tower, forming a quadrilobate bastion with curtain walls oriented to the cardinal points. The main entrance, located in the southeastern curtain wall, led to a half-moon-shaped courtyard connecting the tower rooms and featuring a well. Each tower had two circular rooms with false dome-shaped roofs, independent of each other, and ground-floor rooms with embrasures separated by a wooden platform.

In the same period, the oldest village huts were built, and three towers were added to an outer defense wall. During the Late Bronze Age (1100-9th century B.C.), the defense wall was renovated and expanded with additional towers. The quadrilobate bastion was reinforced with a 3-meter-thick masonry sheath, blocking the original ground entrance and creating a new raised entrance in the reinforced northeastern curtain wall. This sheath also covered the ground-floor embrasures in the quadrilobate towers.

Most village houses, built during the Late Bronze Age, had circular bases and single rooms with wooden conical roofs. One significant structure from this period is Hut 80, also known as the Hut of Reunion, Council Hall, or Curia. This large circular building with a stone bench around the inner perimeter and five wall niches likely hosted important public events and religious rituals.

At the beginning of the Iron Age (9th-6th century B.C.), Su Nuraxi was destroyed. A new cluster of huts was built on the remains, reflecting advanced techniques and urban forms of a society evolving internally and through external influences. The climate became more peaceful, and military life faded into memory. New dwelling types, such as insulae with central courtyards, emerged. These circular huts had quadrangular rooms arranged radially around a central courtyard, with the most significant room, the Rotonda, featuring a paved floor, stone bench, and central basin for water-related rituals.

In the 5th century B.C., the Nuragic Civilization was replaced by Punic occupation, introducing new cultural elements. Despite some material influences from Punic cities, the village’s appearance and lifestyle remained largely unchanged, though a gradual decline in housing and population occurred.

During the historical period (2nd-1st century B.C.), the settlement was reused and adapted by the Romans, who sometimes used the structures as burial sites. The area continued to be inhabited until the 3rd century B.C. and was sporadically used until the Early Middle Ages (7th century B.C.).

• Giara di Gesturi - Horseback Excursions - Gesturi, the northernmost village in the Marmilla region, has over a thousand inhabitants. Visitors can explore the Giara, a 600-meter-high plateau that was once a massive volcano and is now a unique Mediterranean oasis. The area is a ‘natural museum’ with diverse botanical species, rare flowers, and plants adapted to the climate and terrain, sustained by large water pools called Is Paulis. Surrounding valleys are covered with Mediterranean scrub, olive groves, and vineyards producing high-quality wine and olive oil.

The plateau’s steep ridges are home to forests of oak, poplar, and cork oak trees, the latter often bent by strong winds. This wild and beautiful landscape is inhabited by ducks, Eurasian woodcocks, Eurasian jays, hares, and the protected Giara horses, whose origins are mysterious. About 500 of these horses live in small groups on the plateau. Rocky elevations interrupt the plateau’s flat terrain, where visitors can walk among signs of human presence dating back 3500 years, including the Bruncu Madugui Protonuraghe, the ‘father of all Nuraghi.’

• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Local guide
• Bottled water
• All taxes, fees and handling charges included
• Priority access with skip-the-line entry
• Travel insurance included
• Transport by air-conditioned minivan with wifi (subject to availability)

• Private Tour (optional)
• Gratuities