Visit Necropolis of Mesu ‘e Montes, Ossi, Sardinia, Italy

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The hypogeal necropolis of Mesu 'e Montes is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Ossi , in the province of Sassari, approximately 10 km away. The complex is excavated on a limestone ridge on the southern slopes of Mount Mamas, overlooking Mount Mannu, in a particularly elevated position (approximately 430 m above sea level) that allows for a wide view of the valley below. The necropolis was first reported by archaeologist Ercole Contu, who identified seventeen domus de janas between 1968 and 1969. Recognizing the extreme scientific interest of the discovery, the scholar, as acting superintendent, requested and obtained the immediate imposition of an archaeological restriction on the affected area. The site was then excavated in 1985 by Giovanni Maria Demartis and Vanna Canalis. The necropolis includes 18 domus de janas, all multi-chambered (two of them have up to 12 rooms), richly adorned with pilasters, panels, false doors, bull protomes, chevrons and other spiral or wolf's tooth motifs. Seven tombs reproduce with extreme effectiveness the structural characteristics of pre-Nuragic dwellings: single or double pitched roofs, horizontal or sloping, with or without central beams and lateral joists, supported or not by pillars, all carved into the rock. One domus was modified in the Nuragic age with the addition of the "architectural facade", or with the characteristic stele of the giants' tombs , in this case built on a rock face 4 metres by 4 metres high which reproduces the arched stele at the centre of the wings of the exedra. The necropolis covers a chronological span between the late Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. In 2025 the site was included, together with other domus de janas present on the island, in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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