Travel guide

western part of the current town and include the thermal baths, the
bridge that still nowadays crosses the Rio Mannu, and the archaeological
remains housed in the Antiquarium Turritano. After a period of decline,
the town regained its vitality with the rise of the maritime Republics of Pisa
and Genoa, and later flourished under the Judicate of Torres as a site of
the Turritan diocese. The Aragonese conquest marked the beginning of a
new period of decline, especially following relocation of the bishop to
Sassari. Of medieval age, Porto Torres can boast one of the most ancient,
most grandiose in size (about 70 m in length), and undoubtedly amongst
the most outstanding examples of Romanesque architecture in Sardinia:
the basilica of San Gavino. Built between the end of the XI and the
beginning of the XII century, it preserves on its northern side the only
surviving Romanesque portal, decorated with human and animal
sculptures. On its southern side, the overwhelming Gothic-Catalan twin
portal opens. The interior, wide and solemn, is divided into three naves,
with arches resting on large-built cruciform pillars and columns with
capitals of Classical Age. The central nave is covered by wooden trusses,
the lateral ones by cross vaults. Displayed near the eastern apse, on a
catafalque, are the three wooden statues of the Turritan martyrs Gavino,
Proto and Gianuario, in whose honour the worship site was founded. Their
remains are thought to rest inside the Roman sarcophagi of the crypt.
Worth visiting is also the church of San Gavino a Mare, located near the
ancient eastern necropolis of Turris Libisonis, built about the mid-1800s on
the site where, according to tradition, the martyrdom and first burial of
Gavino, Proto and Gianuario would have occurred. The church features an
upper-mediaeval crypt and, adjacent to it, two hypogea used as burial sites
until Paleochristian Age.
Finally, not far from town, is the prenuragic complex of Monte d’Accoddi,
the only example in the Mediterranean of a megalithic altar, dating to the
Age of Copper and featuring an interesting structure reminding of the
Mesopotamic ziggurat.
50