Turris Libisonis, Porto Torres, Italy

The ancient Roman town of Turris Libisonis, located at the mouth of the Rio Mannu was the precursor to the current Porto Torres. This had been a Roman colony since the 1st century BC and, of all the estates belonging to the Republic and the Empire, it was the only one inhabited by Roman citizens: it proudly held the name of Iulia, linked to the figure of Julius Cesar or of Augustus.

Under the long Roman dominion, the town underwent several urban renewals: building of the road system, three thermal baths, an aqueduct and the creation of a port where trade relationships with Ostia took place. The colony, between the end of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, was second only to Caralis for number of inhabitants, grandeur and maritime traffic. Buildings that will surprise you with their architectural perfection and evocative power are the domus di Orfeo and the Terme di Pallottino thermal baths as well as the central ones, in an area known as Palazzo di Re Barbaro, in which you will find large rooms with baths and elegant mosaics. Between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, the building activity was intensified: you can admire the evolution of these activities as well as the remains of marble decorations, bas-reliefs and statues. In the archaeological area, you will find the remains of dwellings grouped into blocks and tabernae (workshops). The buildings are delimited by paved roads and are partly incorporated and visible in the Antiquarium Turritano, a museum located in a building within this area, not far from the thermal baths, where artefacts and relics found during the excavations are kept: pottery, funeral urns, inscriptions and mosaics.

Around the ancient town, there are vast necropolises: one to the west, on a shore of the Rio Mannu rivulet and another to south, below the current town, while to the east, on the seafront, including the hypogaeum of Tanca Borgona, there are the funerary complexes of Scogliolungo and San Gavino a mare and the tombs of Balai. The graves range from the early Imperial age to the early Christian period, while there is an almost completely intact Roman bridge over the river with seven elegant arches, making it an exceptional feat of engineering.

References:

Sardegna Turismo

User Reviews

Ilaria Orlandini (9 months ago)
I give three stars not for the beauty of the site itself, which is indisputable, but for the overall management! All sorts of signs are missing, so much so that, walking around with the car, I thought it was closed and I had to call to make sure it could be entered! At this time, due to covid, access is allowed to groups of 5 people, with a guided tour and the antiquarium, where the most deserving finds are exhibited, is closed. The cost of the ticket is quite negligible: € 4 for an hour of visit to a site that for the most part has yet to be excavated, but which already suggests the wonder that will emerge! Today the thermal structures, the cryptoporticus, the paved road and some wonderful domus with floor mosaics of great value can be visited, among which the splendid one with Orpheus. The guided tour, however, was quite disappointing: it is true that we did not have a real guide, but a simple accompanying employee (by his own admission), but at least a minimum of language ownership and the correct use of the verb tenses one if you expect it! I admit that she was still with sympathy and goodwill, but after taking part in other guided tours, for example at the Fordongianus spa, the disappointment was great here, also because neither the history nor the importance of the site is explained! Sin! Porto Torres is an industrial location, tourists usually prefer Stintino and Castelsardo, so aiming at an archaeological site of this beauty and importance, making the most of it, it seems to me a practically obligatory choice! You can do much more and much better!

Federico Lago (2 years ago)
Great visit and very knowledgeable staff. Sometimes guides in English are not available.

Cavanha Capoeira (2 years ago)
Closed.

Estera Žuža (3 years ago)
Great

Kamila Červená (4 years ago)
The archeological area is pretty impressive especially thanks to the mosaics. Unfortunately the tour guide is more of a security and doesn't give you any explanation of the place. At least in my case

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Lednice Castle

The first historical record of Lednice locality dates from 1222. At that time there stood a Gothic fort with courtyard, which was lent by Czech King Václav I to Austrian nobleman Sigfried Sirotek in 1249.

At the end of the 13th century the Liechtensteins, originally from Styria, became holders of all of Lednice and of nearby Mikulov. They gradually acquired land on both sides of the Moravian-Austrian border. Members of the family most often found fame in military service, during the Renaissance they expanded their estates through economic activity. From the middle of the 15th century members of the family occupied the highest offices in the land. However, the family’s position in Moravia really changed under the brothers Karel, Maximilian, and Gundakar of Liechtenstein. Through marriage Karel and Maximilian acquired the great wealth of the old Moravian dynasty of the Černohorskýs of Boskovice. At that time the brothers, like their father and grandfather, were Lutheran, but they soon converted to Catholicism, thus preparing the ground for their rise in politics. Particularly Karel, who served at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, became hetman of Moravia in 1608, and was later raised to princely status by King Matyas II and awarded the Duchy of Opava.

During the revolt of the Czech nobility he stood on the side of the Habsburgs, and took part in the Battle of White Mountain. After the uprising was defeated in 1620 he systematically acquired property confiscated from some of the rebels, and the Liechtensteins became the wealthiest family in Moravia, rising in status above the Žerotíns. Their enormous land holdings brought them great profits, and eventually allowed them to carry out their grandious building projects here in Lednice.

In the 16th century it was probably Hartmann II of Liechtenstein who had the old medieval water castle torn down and replaced with a Renaissance chateau. At the end of the 17th century the chateau was torn down and a Baroque palace was built, with an extensive formal garden, and a massive riding hall designed by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach that still stands in almost unaltered form.

In the mid-18th century the chateau was again renovated, and in 1815 its front tracts that had been part of the Baroque chateau were removed.

The chateau as it looks today dates from 1846-1858, when Prince Alois II decided that Vienna was not suitable for entertaining in the summer, and had Lednice rebuilt into a summer palace in the spirit of English Gothic. The hall on the ground floor would serve to entertain the European aristocracy at sumptuous banquets, and was furnished with carved wood ceilings, wooden panelling, and select furniture, surpassing anything of its kind in Europe.

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