Cavallini and Nuraghe

Here are some picture from the culture excursion we went on on Sunday. We visited Casa Zapata, Barumini, a nuraghe, and Parco della Giari. Nuraghe are structures found all of the island of Sardenga. They're old stone structures whose exact purpose is unknown. Around 30,000 are though to have existed, but now only about 7,000 are left due to people taking the stones for other purposes throughout the years. We visited the largest nuraghe, and also the nuraghe that happened to be the structural base for Casa Zapata.

Church right in front of Casa Zapata

Nuraghe that Casa Zapata was built on

Largest nuraghe in Sardenga

View from the top of the nuraghe, would have been houses

Inside the nuraghe, one of the four towers

After touring the nuraghe, we went hiking on the volcanic plateau created into a park called Parco della Giari. It is about 30 sq. miles, and from here we hiked around and saw the wild cavallini of Sardenga. Cavallini means little horses in Italian, and they are quite small with the average height being around 4 ft. Their population is only around 700, and they are specific to the island. Besides the great views, we also visited small houses used by the shepherds many years ago. The culture here on the island is interesting because of its diversity from area to area and to have the opportunity to visit many different parts of the island is an amazing.

View from the plateau 

Un cavallino 

Little shepherd house