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15-498: It is located on the western arm of the Golfo degli Angeli , about 15 kilometres (9 mi) from Cagliari . Economy is mostly based on services, although the tourism sector has grown notably in the past decades. Extending at the foot of Mount Arcosu and bathed by the Cagliari pond - known as Santa Gilla - Capoterra is a centre of about 23,000 inhabitants on the south-western outskirts of

30-526: A chapel, where it is said that the martyr Barbara was beheaded during the Christian persecution. The head, falling off, is said to have originated a spring, still active today, sa Scabizzada (the beheaded). The area around it became the summer residence of Cagliari families in the 20th century. Golfo degli Angeli The Golfo di Cagliari (English: Gulf of Cagliari , Sardinian : Golfu de Casteddu ), also known as Golfo degli Angeli (English: Gulf of

45-622: A necropolis at Sant'Antonio date back to the Punic period (5th-4th century B.C.). From history to astrophysics: in the hills near the hamlet of Poggio dei Pini stands the astronomical observatory frequented by international teams of scientists. The name of the town derives from the Latin Caput terrae : in Roman times, the urban centre (perhaps an oppidum) developed near the lagoon. In the Judicial period , it

60-707: The 1300 hectares of the Cagliari lagoon, one of Europe's most important avifauna oases, is the Capoterra pond, where flamingos and black-winged stilts can be observed. Nearby, at Cuccuru Ibba , there are traces dating back to the Neolithic period : a lithic workshop and circular huts. In various localities, there are ruins from the Nuragic period , necropolis and towers, in particular the Monti Arrubiu nuraghe . A settlement at su Loi and

75-617: The Angels ) is a large bay in southern Sardinia , Italy , facing the Tyrrhenian Sea . It is enclosed between the Cape Carbonara from east and the Isola dei Cavoli and Capo Spartivento from west. Its coasts are partly sandy and partly rocky, including only a few harbours. In the middle of the gulf is a Sant'Elia promontory, part of the territory of Cagliari , Sardinia's capital, which also houses

90-456: The capital of Sardinia. In its vast territory, inhabited since pre-Nuragic times , nature and history intertwine. On the Arcosu there are enchanting and remarkable landscapes, almost four thousand hectares of forest, with a 'heart' of holm oaks and cork oaks, surrounded by Mediterranean scrub, where Sardinian deer and fallow deer roam undisturbed. The park is irrigated by streams and waterfalls. Within

105-469: The city lost its economic function and became a simple fort (Nora praesidium). Nora appears to have been abandoned during the 8th century. Its toponym , however, remained in the name of a curadoria (main administrative division) of Judicatus of Caralis at the beginning of the second millennium. Because the southern part of Sardinia is sinking into the Mediterranean Sea , a substantial part of

120-468: The city of Nora. The tradition is that this was the first city in the island, and they say that Norax was a son of Erytheia, the daughter of Geryon , with Hermes for his father." Solinus wrote that it was named Nora after Norax. Early on the area was occupied by a village of indigenous Sardinians , but soon became an emporium and then a Phoenician city. Especially after the conquest by Carthage , Nora flourished, as (along with Bithia near Chia ) it

135-416: The former town is now under water. A similar fate has befallen nearby Bithia , now completely submerged. Nora was an important trading town in its time, with two protected harbours, one on each side of the peninsula. Several different building styles can be seen in the excavated buildings. The ancient ruins of Nora include an open-air museum and the remains of a theatre , occasionally used for concerts in

150-502: The mediaeval Sardinian language ) is an ancient pre-Roman and Roman town on a peninsula near Pula , near to Cagliari in Sardinia . In his Description of Greece , Pausanias , a Greek-Roman geographer of the second century, narrates the mythological foundation of the city: "After Aristaeus , the Iberians crossed to Sardinia , under Norax as leader of the expedition, and they founded

165-463: The minor justice system. Within the town, the parish church of Sant'Efisio , the town's patron saint, whose original nucleus was not by chance called Villa sant'Efisio, stands out for its history and tradition. Identity and legend materialise in the Romanesque church of santa Barbara de Montes , erected on the eastern slopes of the Capoterra mountains. Fifty metres from the church, Basilian monks built

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180-717: The most important port. Other comuni on the gulf include Domus de Maria , Pula , Villa San Pietro , Sarroch , Capoterra , Quartu Sant'Elena , Sinnai and Villasimius . The most famous beach is that of Poetto , near Cagliari, while important wetlands are the Stagni ("ponds") of Capoterra, Cagliari and Molentargius . Also notable is the archaeological site of Nora . 39°06′N 9°12′E  /  39.100°N 9.200°E  / 39.100; 9.200 Nora, Italy 38°59′05″N 9°00′57″E  /  38.984685°N 9.015860°E  / 38.984685; 9.015860 Nora ( Ancient Greek : Νῶρα ) ( Nuras in

195-686: The town came under Roman control after the conquest of Sardinia in 238 BC. The city is mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana , a Roman-period itinerarium . It went into decline from the mid-5th century AD after the Vandal conquest of Sardinia. The island was taken by the Eastern Romans in 535, who ruled it for 300 years. According to the Ravenna Cosmography , after the Arab conquest of Carthage in 698

210-520: Was a villa of the curatorate of Nora and, from 1120, of the giudicato of Cagliari . After passing to the Pisan seigniory and later the Aragonese conquest , the town was destroyed and uninhabited for three centuries. Until the mid-seventeenth century when Baron Girolamo Torrelas decided to repopulate it, granting families from other parts of Sardinia plots of land and 'good conditions' to escape pendencies with

225-413: Was the first stage on the sea route from Carthage to Sardinia and its most important city, Cagliari. The Nora Stone , a Phoenician inscription found at Nora in 1773, has been dated by palaeographic methods to between the late 9th century and early 8th century BC, and has been interpreted as referring to a Phoenician military victory and conquest of the area. After a period of domination by Carthage ,

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