Nora (Italy) - Nora (Italia)

Nora is an archaeological site of the Sardinia.

To know

Nora is an ancient city, built near pre-existing Nuragic settlements, later Punic and Roman, capital of the Noritani people.

The great sacred complex of the temple of Eshmun-Aesculapius it is affected by various construction events, renovations and destructions that have complicated the understanding of the general plan and the function of the rooms. The temple is arranged on several levels. Some rooms, mosaics, datable to the imperial age are interesting; an apse opens on the southern side of the building. The duplication of the penethral, ​​obtained by arranging a partition, leads to suppose a Punic pre-existence in the area, this being a typical feature of the sacred architecture of the Punic world.

The excavation unearthed a series of four small and two larger ceramic statuettes, which proved to be of considerable importance, especially chronological. The finds are framed in the second century BC, in the Roman Republican period. Sardinia, although politically Roman by now, was still permeated with Punic culture, material and traditions. The statuettes depict devoted donors; the two largest and most significant sculptures allow the identification of the divinity to whom the temple was dedicated. One depicts a man asleep, reclining, around whose body a snake is wrapped. It is known that in the sanctuaries of the salutary deity Aesculapius the rite of incubation was practiced and that the snake was an animal sacred to the god; so the link is obvious. If we are sure of this and of a phase of at least the second century BC, there are no sure traces of an earlier Punic structure, nor of intermediate phases between the second century BC. and the 4th century AD. period in which the mosaic is given. The only trace of these centuries is a fragmentary epigraph that can be dated to the beginning of the third century AD. but we are not sure of its original location.

The tophet di Nora was discovered in 1889 thanks to a storm, with excavations carried out in the following year. Many materials have been found here, in particular some steles in local sandstone, mostly with symbolic representations, included in small aedicules, with hints of architectural elements. The materials are dated between the end of the fifth and the end of the fourth century BC.

The steles of Nora have a preference for symbolic representations: the betyl, sacred stone seat of the divinity, and the sign of Tanit, goddess of the Carthaginian pantheon, depicted as a triangle surmounted by a circle, often enriched by astral symbols (solar disc and crescent moon). The depictions of human figures are less frequent. The dimensions vary from small steles to real monuments over a meter high. The dating of the tophet can be placed between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC.

Geographical notes

Nora is located on the promontory of Capo Pula and is far from the center of Chaff about 5 km.

Background

Pausanias attributes its foundation to the eponymous hero Norace, at the helm of the Iberians. The later Solino attributes to Norace a provenance from the mythical city of Tartesso.

The name derives from Norace, as confirmed by Solino himself: "a Norace Norae oppido nomen datum" (from Norace the name of Nora was given to the city).

Traces of the Nuragic presence have been found, attesting to the presence of the site in the Bronze Age (in particular a nuragic well at the "Terme a Mare" and imported artefacts from the Mycenaean III b dating back to the full Nuragic age). In the surrounding area there are some nuraghi ("Sa Guardia mongiasa" nuraghe on the only modest relief in the immediate hinterland; nuraghe Antigori di Sarroch, more distant, in which Mycenaean pottery was found).

Traces of the nuragic-Phoenician repopulation refer to the 8th century BC. (stele of Nora, with inscription in an alphabet similar to the Phoenician, with the oldest attestation of the name of Sardinia), while the oldest remains found refer to a necropolis with tombs datable between the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 6th century B.C

Few remains of the original city remain (tophet, foundations of a sacred structure dedicated to the goddess Tanit, remains of fortifications, artisanal plants in the area closest to the sea). However, the materials found in the tombs attest to the flourishing of the city in the fifth and especially in the fourth century BC and the early contacts with ancient Rome.

At the time of the Roman conquest of Sardinia (238 BC) it was probably the most important city on the island, initially chosen as the capital of the Roman province of Sardinia and Corsica. In Roman times it was a town hall. The remains currently present testify to the development of the city in particular in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The remains of numerous buildings of the Roman city are preserved, such as the forum, theater, amphitheater (not yet excavated), spas and residential houses, while archaeological materials testify to the continuation and prosperity of trade with the regions overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

The abandonment of the city had to begin during the fifth century, with the occupation by the Vandals and the greater difficulty of maritime traffic: the inhabitants had to gradually withdraw to the safer places in the interior. In the seventh century, the anonymous Cosmography of Ravenna mentions Nora as praesidium (fortress and no longer a city). The subsequent frequentation of the site is linked to the tradition of the martyrdom of Saint Efisio, to whom a small church erected in 1089 was dedicated.

The still visible ruins were already identified with the city of Nora by the sixteenth-century scholar Giovanni Francesco Fara and still mentioned by nineteenth-century travelers. The first excavations date back to the end of the 19th century (Giovanni Spano, Filippo Vivanet in 1889, Filippo Nissardi 1891-1892). The systematic excavation was carried out in the years between 1952 and 1960 (Gennaro Pesce).

How to get

By plane

• 39.259.051 Cagliari-Elmas Airport (IATA: CAG) (Located in Elmas, 41 km from Nora), ☎ 39 070 211211, fax: 39 070 241013. L'Cagliari-Elmas airport is served by Ryanair with Milan-Bergamo, Treviso, Cuneo, Bologna, Pisa, Rome-Ciampino and some European cities, from Alitalia with Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Linate, from Easyjet, Volotea and other airlines that operate national flights and with Europe.  

By car

Take the SS 131 Carlo Felice, then, arrived at the gates of Cagliari, take the exit "Pula-Quartu Sant'Elena and always follow the signs for Pula, then, take the SS 195. Continue to the crossroads for Chaff, then turn left and follow the signs for Nora to reach your destination.

On boat

From the port of Cagliari.

By bus

Chaff can be reached from Cagliari with the ARST line 129. Once in Pula, continue on foot to reach the site of Nora.

Permits / Rates

• The entrance fees are as follows: Full price: € 6.00; groups of 20 people € 5.00; cruise passengers € 4.50; children under 18 € 3.50; schools € 3.00; free of charge for group leaders, disabled people and carers, MIBAC employees, journalists with card, minors up to 6 years old.
• Instead, the Nora Torre di Coltellazzo rates are as follows: € 8.00 adults per visit to Nora and Torre di Coltellazzo; € 6.00 groups over 20 people for a visit to Nora and Torre di Coltellazzo; € 5.50 cruise groups for a visit to Nora and Torre di Coltellazzo; € 5.00 minors up to the age of 18 for a visit to Nora and Torre di Coltellazzo; € 4.00 school groups with teachers for a visit to Nora and Torre di Coltellazzo; free of charge for group leaders, disabled people and carers, MIBAC employees, journalists with card, minors up to 6 years old.
• The opening hours of the site are as follows: Last Sunday of October-15 February: Mon-Sun 10: 00-17: 30; February 16-Last Saturday of March Mon-Sun 10: 00-18: 00; Last Sunday of March-30 September Mon-Sun 10: 00-20: 00; 1st October-Last Saturday of October Mon-Sun 10: 00-18: 30

How to get around

What see

• 38.9859579.0157161 Archeological area. 
• 38.9841679.022 Torre del Coltellazzo (Located within the Nora site). Watchtower from the 14th century.  

What to do

Shopping

Where to eat

• 38.9899729.0127221 Nora Beach Palm, Viale Nora (In front of the church of Sant'Efisio, about 1 km from Nora.), ☎ 39 070 9245481, @[email protected]. Mon-Sun 9: 00-1: 00. Restaurant Pizzeria. 

Where stay

• 38.9921119.0144171 Villa Ada, Viale Nora 99 (1 km from the Nora site.), ☎ 39 070 9209115, 39 347 9342742, @[email protected]. 2 star B&B. 
• 38.9934729.0133892 Bay of Nora, SS 195, locality Su Guventeddu, Nora (1 km from the Nora site.), ☎ 39 070 9245551, fax: 39 070 9245600, @[email protected]. Hotel 4 Stars. 

Safety

How to keep in touch

Useful information

• Contacts, ☎ 39 070 921470, 39 070 92440304, @[email protected]. 

Around

• 38.9897229.0127782 Church of Sant'Efisio (1 km from the Nora site.). Romanesque church.  

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Nora (Italy)
• Commons contains images or other files on Nora (Italy)

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