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Discovering
the Island
Main Attractions Edition
The first scratch map of Sardinia, you will discover 40 attractions of the Island. Each of them will make you know more local elements.
39 - MINIERE DEL
SULCIS
Sulcis is the south-western region of the island, whose connotations are not reproduced in any other part of Sardinia, both in terms of geological, landscape and naturalistic aspects, but also in terms of urban and industrial anthropization. The etymology of the name refers to ancient Sulki, today Sant'Antioco, which according to some archaeological studies seems, given its strategic geographical position, to have been the oldest city in the Western Mediterranean, thus questioning the label of Phoenician city.
The Sulcis represents the Sardinian area most exploited for the resources of the subsoil, cross and delight for the same area, and in particular, to have developed over time, but then lose self-sustenance, are the activities of extraction and processing of minerals. From the Neolithic to the 70s and 80s of the last century, the deposits of the Sulcis's subsoil have outlined the stabilization of civilizations, settlements and activities that have marked a flourishing economy.
The mines absorbed all the activity of the local populations, preferred to the more traditional ones, such as agriculture.
All that remains today is, except for some activities that have been converted in the area of Porto Vesme, suggestive landscapes that bring back to the memory of the old mining activities. The effects of the modeling of the landscape, culture and environment of the Sulcis area have constituted a unique identity value of mining archaeology, so much so that the Geominerary Park, created for the management of these assets, was considered in 1997 "the first Park in the world network of geo-sites-geoparks" by UNESCO.
The Sulcis is an open-air museum in which there are several itineraries to admire the different plants of the territory.
The number of mines and deposits exploited in the whole Sulcis area is high, among these are those of Sulcis:
- Monteponi (Iglesias - lead and zinc);
- Sa Duchessa (Iglesias - lead, zinc and copper);
- Montevecchio (Arbus/Guspini - lead, zinc and silver);
- Serbariu (Carbonia - lignite);
- Malfidano (Bugerru - lead and zinc)
- Su Zurfuru (Fluminimaggiore - lead, zinc and fluorine);
- Orbai (Villamassargia - lead, zinc and barium).
