LOCATION: Middle- east Sardinia, 10km from Dorgali, in the Province of Nuoro.

PERIOD: Nuraghic Age – From Medium Bronze Age to Iron Age ( 15th – 9th centuries B.C.).

If someone had supposed that the nuraghi were just houses, here is the proof of their mistake: Serra Orrios. (in the middle of Gollei basaltic tableland, 10km from Dorgali) one of Sardinia's biggest nuragic villages.
Could the nuraghe have been the palace of the Shepherd King? Looking at Serra Orrios conglomeration, even this hypothesis seems to be without foundation. The closest nuraghe to the village is indeed located at about 500 metres. Which king, however haughty and arrogant , would be so unwary to isolate himself from the rest of the population? An enemy attack would have found him quite defenceless. Could then the nuraghe have been the house of the priest? The nuragic village of Serra Orrios consists of a hundred huts and two megaron temples (with an elongated rectangular shape and a vestibule preceding the cell). The possibility that the priest was a character that would arrive to one of the temples and then go back to his nuragic fortress can not be ruled out. A fascinating hypothesis, but why in the case of Barumini is the nuraghe surrounded by huts? Was the priest of Serra Orrio less humble than the one of Su Nuraxi? Once again the nuragic civilization forces us to draw endless comparisons and ask thousands of questions with as many replies. All hypothetically right, none objectively correct.
Then let's try to understand these people better, hoping to find inspiration from their world, their houses, their streets. The village of Serra Orrios is the perfect place to observe the degree of organization of nuragic people. The built-up area, that could probably have about 300 inhabitants, has a very complex structure, almost “protourban”, with narrow streets, small squares and wells. Every construction has been made with basaltic rocks with “dry walling” technique.
Many finds have been discovered in the village (they are exposed at the Archaeological Museum of Dorgali) and they document how the inhabitants engaged primarily in stock farming and agriculture. The loom weights, whorls and reels show instead the practice of spinning and weaving, while moulds and foundry-man's pliers document metal processing.
The village can be accessed from the south, passing an elliptical shaped wall hedge that delimits an area with a small megaron temple. Probably this temple used to accommodate foreigners. Located far from the huts, the sacred construction had a rectangular plan and the entrance is oriented towards east-south-east.
Close to the huts there is another irregular rectangular hedge that contains another small megaron temple, the bigger one. The temple can be accessed through a south-east located architrave-opening, reachable only after passing a second entrance.
The built-up area, about 3 metres from the second temple, is composed of circular huts. Among these huts one stand out from the village, the so-called “hut of meetings”, whose entrance is located at north-east.

HOW TO GET THERE: From Olbia take the SS 131 d.c.n. towards Nuoro. Take the junction to Dorgali and after 3km leave the car in the parking space and walk for about 600 metres following the path to the site entrance.