Top 20 Natural Monuments around Caragnani/Calangianus

In Telti, near Monte Pino, you can see this fascinating rock immersed in a beautiful landscape. It has the shape of an elephant, at least that's what it looks like when you look at it from afar.

Elephant rock.

Similar to the more famous Elephant Rock of Castelsardo, this rock formation near Telti, also in northern Sardinia, is very fascinating. While walking towards Monte Pino, take a few minutes to observe this strange rock that looks, indeed, like an elephant.

Punta Gjucantinu is the second highest peak of Mount Limbara. You can reach it easily with a path and a short climb. From the top, the view is breathtaking: you have a view that extends from the Gulf of Asinara to the Gennargentu chain. A majestic and fascinating panorama.

In the Vallicciola park on Mount Limbara, the most photographed trees are the magnificent sequoias. Near the Hotel Vallicciola, a clean path immerses itself in a forest of sequoias mixed with a few pines. The sequoias of Vallicciola, an enchanting mountain village on the Limbara, are monumental trees, planted at the beginning of the last century, which reach almost 40 meters in height.

The cost of visiting each excavation site is €4 (as of April 2024) and it is open from 10 a.m.

This impressive mountain range is the highest in the region and offers an unmistakable panorama with its two striking granite peaks, Punta sa Berritta and Punta Balistreri. The rugged peaks contrast with the densely forested slopes, which form a green band around the bare peaks with chestnuts, pedunculate oaks, pines, firs and firs. As soon as you reach the summit and look as far as Corsica and the island of Asinara under clear skies, you will understand why so many hikers rave about this place. Your starting point could be the hiking car park below the summit, where the small Madonna della Neve chapel rises from granite rocks. From here you have six different trekking routes available. But maybe you would like to start the adventure in the town of Vallicciola and set off on a hike into the mountain range. Such a circular tour takes between two and a half and four hours, depending on the route. You should be alert on the way, because wild boars roam this area. It is advisable to avoid the forest and take to the road, especially at dusk. Would you like to take a break? Then find a place near the church where you can enjoy the peace and quiet and the view. And when you finally drive along the winding road that takes you into the mountains, you will find that the journey is an adventure in itself. The best time to tour the Monte Limbara mountain range is between May and October. But even in winter, the snow-covered peak offers a charming sight. You need to be sure-footed on your hike, because nature shows its wild side here. But that is precisely what makes this region so charming. So, lace up your hiking boots and set off on a journey of discovery!

The Li Muri Necropolis is the oldest site in the Arzachena area. It dates from around 6,000 years ago, i.e. from the Neolithic period. The burial circles are among the oldest evidence of Western European megalithism and bear close comparisons with southern Corsica. Burials of this type are also found in the French and Spanish Pyrenees, while in Sardinia it seems to be widespread only in the Gallura region, particularly in the Arzachena region. The necropolis consists of four burial circles touching each other with variable widths between about 5 and 8.5 meters in diameter. They are delimited by small slabs fastened with a knife and arranged in concentric circles, which served to house a mound of stones and earth that encircled the tombs, giving them the appearance of four artificial mounds. Within each circle was a small rectangular stone chest containing one or at most two deceased in a crouched posture. Each burial was accompanied by a set of valuable objects: flint blades, necklaces of unspecified stone, spheroid buttons (perhaps set in sticks for use as weapons or scepters), axes of polished hardstone, and in one case a sophisticated soapstone chalice indicate this that the deceased were prominent figures in the community. Traces of red ocher, a substance symbolizing regeneration and used to clean or symbolically cover human remains, have been found in the tombs. Two large granite menhirs, stone monuments set vertically into the ground with the function of tombstones or symbolic representations of deities or the soul of the deceased, were placed between one circle and another. Outside the circles there are also small square stone boxes, presumably intended to collect grave goods. A fifth circle differs from the others both in its secluded location and in the features of the tomb at its center. The finds found prove a first use in the Neolithic, which is evidenced by fragments of flint blades and beads of a necklace made of steatite; In the Bronze Age (around 1600 BC), this circular grave would then have been converted into an allée couverte, i.e. a communal grave. https://www.gesecoarzachena.it/?page_id=1558