start: 9.00 AM
duration: 7 h
meeting point: Cagliari, Piazza Yenne (in front of the obelisk)
*Pickup from your Cagliari based hotel
End location: Return to your original pickup location
Sant’Antioco stands on an Island by the same name in the south west corner of Sardinia (90 km east of Cagliari). With a surface area of 109 square kilometres, Sant’Antioco is the fourth largest Italian island. It is connected to the mainland across the large lagoon of Santa Caterina by an artificial isthmus of land around 3km long that was probably created by the Carthaginians and was then perfected by the Romans who built a bridge across it.
The Phoenicians had arrived here in the 9th Century B.C when they built Sulcis, one of the oldest and largest Phoenician settlements in Sardinia. The town is characterised by its important archaeological settlements: you can see a tophet, and a necropolis as well as the medieval church of Sant’Antioco with its catacombs.
However it is also noted for its beautiful beaches like Maladroxia and Co’e Quaddus, the rocky inlets of Cala Sapone and Cala Lunga.
The second town of the island is one of wine producers and fishermen: Calasetta. Originally called Cala di Seta, it was founded in 1769 by some Ligurian families who had been living in Tabarca in Tunisia. The Ligurian heritage is visible even today as the people of Calasetta continue to maintain Genoese customs and dialect, which gives the town a very unique flavour. The straight streets are arranged in grid fashion with two-storey houses. Both the main square, which features an impressive church with an Arab bell tower, and the port are the hubbub of all activity. Calasetta is a great place for eating out as there are several good restaurants and pizzerie. The main beach, Sottotorre, is right in the heart of Calasetta, below the old Saracen tower.