Nora

Nora is most likely the oldest town built in Sardinia, it was founded by the Phoenicians in the VIII Century B.C. but the area may have been inhabited by the Nuraghic people before. However, after a subsequent period of Carthaginian domination, Nora came under Roman control after the conquest of Sardinia in 238 B.C. and became the main town of the island and the governorship’s site. Nora was an important trading settlement thanks to its strategic position which made it one of the main landing places in the Mediterranean area. The slow decline of Nora started in the IV Century A.C. because of the vandals and pirates that made the seas unsafe and the maritime trade impracticable. Due to its dangerousness and exposure to raids, the people who lived there progressively abandoned the area in order to find a safer place where to live. The ruins of Nora are now an open air museum, but a significant part has not been excavated because is now under the sea.