News (2008/09/26)

Archeologists find most important ancient city after Carthage

Archeologists from the University of Cagliari and Sassari in Sardinia said they have found the port of the city of Tharros, a Phoenician city that was the most important colony in the Mediterranean after Carthage.

Western Sardinia

Tharros was situated on a peninsula overlooking the Bay of Oristano in western Sardinia. Excavations have been going on at the site of the city itself, but this is the first time its waterfront has been located.
 

Harbor
The archaeologists discovered a sandstone wall 100 meters in length and four meters in width and  a basin carved in the rock, that is similar to the inner harbor of Carthage.
 

Phoenicians
The Phoenicians were a maritime trading people. They developed a commercial empire across the Mediterranean.

8th century BC

Tharros was founded in the 8th century BC. It was destroyed by the Saracens in the 10th century AD. The Phoenicians also founded Cagliari (today's capital of Sardinia) and Palermo (today's capital of Sicily).