Island – European Traveler

Layers of Time, Living Traditions in Southwest Sardinia

Sardinia’s ancient past survives not only in rock-cut tombs and sacred sites, but is also celebrated through the food, wine, and traditions that shape daily life

Story and photos by Alison Ramsey

Sant’Antioco is Italy’s oldest urban settlement, but its ancient past remains embedded in the island’s living traditions. In the southwestern region of Sardinia, Italy, communities have long been drawn by strategic coastlines, seafood-rich waters, mineral resources, and fertile land in a biodiverse ecosystem. As Mediterranean cultures crossed these shores, they passed along traditions, traded tools and recipes, and introduced influences that are still evident today. The island’s archaeology is not only preserved in excavated tombs and museum exhibits—it remains visibly connected to everyday culture through the food and wine served at family dinners.

Ferruccio Barreca Archaeological Museum

In Sant’Antioco—an island off the coast of southern Sardinia, connected by a manmade isthmus—the Ferruccio Barreca Archaeological Museum is set up for thorough exploration. The museum is arranged by historical timepoint, so visitors can follow the route from Phoenician and Punic origins extending into the Roman era in Italy’s most ancient city, Sulky.

Museum guide points to exhibit model — Knowledgeable guide Matteo Piras walks visitors through exhibitions at the Ferruccio Barreca Archaeological Museum.

Displayed here are artifacts found in excavations that are still in progress at sites on the island, with relics from ancient settlements and necropolises. One exhibition shows items found in a Punic Age water cistern and includes a large bowl used for making couscous (a typical Tunisian meal). Evidence like this indicates the island’s layered historical cultures resulting from its unique waterside location and landscape have influenced cuisine.

**Tabarchin Cascà Indicates African Culinary Influence**

In Calasetta, the Tabarchin couscous called cascà is still traditionally made using hand-prepared semolina. Lines grooved into the sides of the bowl assist in breaking up the moistened, salted grain clumps to form spherical shapes. Made in large batches and cooked with vegetables and aromatic herbs, this couscous can be reheated as savory leftovers, with flavors intensifying for later enjoyment.

A family recipe of Calasetta couscous is served at the Tenuta La Sabbiosa winery.

Couscous ingredients are prepped for mixing.

Woman makes couscous in a bowl — Couscous ingredients are prepped for mixing.

Settlement Structures Give Clues to Earlier Lifestyles

The southwestern portion of Sardinia holds the ruins of many nuraghes (fortress-like buildings) and shows evidence of the existence of Phoenician settlements—some of the oldest on the island. The remains of important Roman and Medieval structures are also found here. Across all of Sardinia, there are 7,000 discovered nuraghi, with 50 on Sant’Antioco island itself. Although the Nuragic Age’s characteristic structures vary in size and format, the strategic locations of these buildings seem to indicate they served as political, economic, and administrative centers of control and protection of resources.

To touch ancient nuraghi monument stones from 1600 B.C., head to the 14-acre Nuragic complex of Seruci in the town of Gonnesa, one of the largest Bronze Age dig sites in Sardinia. Examination of the multi-tower nuraghe and numerous prehistoric artifacts found at this site indicate that the village included about 200 huts. Deposits of zinc, lead, and silver give evidence to the commercial and daily life of the settlement’s early inhabitants.

Stone archaeological structures on top of a hill

Grapevines Thrive From Ancient Roots

Protection of the land’s products remains important even today, as Sardinians work hard to retain the natural offerings provided by land and sea. Tenuta La Sabbiosa winery on Sant’Antioco has great respect and passion for the ancient Carignano vineyards the native soil and salty winds used to nourish year-round across the dunes. Having avoided Europe’s late 1800s phylloxera vine disease, these historic grapevines began to dwindle in the 1980s, as low yield and changes in the wine market slackened the wine-growing tradition. La Sabbiosa restored the centuries-old vineyards on their land, using traditional processing techniques combined with modern knowledge. The pure flavors and scents of their wines are unique in that they are a direct product of ancient, pre-phylloxera European roots and grapes grown seaside, in soil containing 99% sand.

Woman crouched beside grapevine plants — Through grafting original vines and hard manual work, the ancient flavor of European grapes is preserved in the roots at Tenuta La Sabbiosa winery.

Natural Cork Regenerates in Sardinian Ecosystem

On the uphill road to Fluminimaggiore and the restored Roman Temple of Antas, cork oak trees are prevalent at the high elevation. These trees mark another way Sardinia’s landscape continues to shape local craft and commerce, as the trunks’ distinctive outward-growing bark regenerates in layers, allowing it to be harvested and regrow without harming the tree.

Renewable and sustainable, natural cork is harvested by cork producers to bring to northwest Sardinia and sell to wine producers, jewelry makers, and traditional mask makers, extending the relationship between Mediterranean ecology and everyday material culture.

Cork jewelry at a gift shop — Jewelry and souvenirs made from cork are found at some gift shops on the island.

Roman temple ruins in a meadow — The Temple of Antas has been partially reconstructed using original stones and fillers to recreate the front columns and staircase, and the sanctuary sits in the middle of a meadow, at an elevation where cork trees thrive.

Salt Harvested From Lagoon Waters

At waterfront MuMa Hostel on Sant’Antioco, the onsite Museum of the Sea and Shipwrights showcases natural habitats of plant and animal species on the island, including those of the herons, egrets, gulls, and pink flamingos that lounge in the Santa Caterina lagoon. These lagoon waters feed the adjacent Sant’Antioco salt pans, which are among the most important in Italy and help meet culinary demands.

Flavorful Food From Flora

While hiking to archaeological sites for evidence of the past, acknowledge the unspoiled nature painting the hinterland. The pure air is filled with intense, aromatic scents of wild olive trees, prickly pear, wild lilies, chamomile, and myrtle. Although lovely to smell, this scrabbly brush that characterizes the Sardinian countryside is often waxy, dry, and bitter, so animals avoid them. To the enjoyment of many people, however, some of this vegetation from the Mediterranean scrub is used to create delightful food and drink.

Fruit from the myrtle plant is used to make a popular liqueur—mirto—served cold with desserts or after meals in Sardinia. The berries are steeped in high-proof alcohol for several weeks and mixed with simple syrup. The drink’s rich, sweet, and slightly bitter herbal flavor evokes the Mediterranean maquis—the dense shrubland typical of the region. Many households on the island make their own mirto or limoncello to have on hand for dinnertime and to serve to guests.

Table full of desserts and drinks — The dessert table at home restaurant Da Zia Pinuccia offers “ladies’ kisses” almond balls and pastries alongside chilled limoncello and mirto.

The fragrant branches of the myrtle plant are even used as a colorful garnish for plating suckling pig at home restaurant Da Zia Pinuccia. A family-style dinner at this 19^th-century house provides an immersive dining experience with traditional Sardinian recipes passed down from previous generations, using locally sourced seasonal ingredients and ancient flavors.

Dine on homemade bread, vegetables, and meats cooked in the wood-fired oven, all served on antique dishware with years of family history. For dessert, try the “ladies’ kisses,” an almond ball coated in sugar and wrapped in white paper with fringed edges—a popular sweet in the south of Italy.

Learn generational stories around the dinner table, mingle with other guests in the gorgeous greenery lined stone courtyard, and enjoy time in a beautiful, warm home full of cultural history and memories.

Prepare for lots of food and laughter around the table at home restaurant Da Zia Pinuccia.

Ancient Tombs—Waiting for the Afterlife

In terms of archaeological history, Montessu is one of the most important dig sites in Sardinia—due to its fascinating position along a moss-covered rockface and its significance in the study of prehistoric funerary rituals. The approximately 40 ancient cave-like tombs here, shaped with stone pickaxes, are called “fairy houses.” Often modeled after houses of the living, with multiple chambers, more than 3,500 of these are scattered across Sardinia, and legend says they belonged to tiny fairies who provided safe havens for the dead while they slept until passage into the afterlife.

Uncovered from the earth at Montessu have been artifacts such as obsidian, bronze, jasper, lead pieces for slingshots, etched coins, silver nails, and knives. Categorized necropolis finds from Montessu are displayed at archaeological museums in nearby Santadi and Cagliari.

At Montessu, a 124-step stone staircase leads to more than 40 prehistoric tombs set along a rockface. Climb inside Tomb 10 (right and left photos) and down the wooden ladder for a peek inside the hollowed-out formation.

A scenic forest climb at the nearby Pani Loriga archaeological site leads to similarly constructed tombs—with evidence the interiors were painted with pigments—and the remains of a Punic settlement. Hilltop discoveries include masks, jugs, amulets, bracelets, and charms. Also found was a terracotta kernos, an ancient vase with several small cups attached to its rim for the purpose of filling with resins, oil, food, and wine for ritual activities. The walk across these grounds reveals shallow pits in the dirt where wild boars burrow for roots.

Fairy tombs cut into the rocks at Pani Loriga were found to have been painted with pigments.
Fairy tombs cut into the rocks at Pani Loriga were found to have been painted with pigments.
Pani Loriga archaeological site shows evidence of early settlements in the form of artifacts and structural remains.
Fairy tombs cut into the rocks at Pani Loriga were found to have been painted with pigments.

Another intriguing peek into the past can be found at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village, often called “Is Gruttas” (the caves). This grouping of Punic tombs from the late 6^th and late 3^rd century B.C. was repurposed as makeshift homes for poor townspeople who lived there by necessity in 1700 and again in 1912. Offering a glimpse into prior, difficult daily lives, these rooms show where the poorest villagers once lived, with some making bags and crafts to sell to rich citizens.

The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.
The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.
The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.
The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.
The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.
The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.
The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.
The poorest classes in the district once lived in repurposed burial chambers at Sant’Antioco’s Hypogeum Village—tombs that are now set up with artifacts and furnishings to show visitors a glimpse of past life.

Situated on a high plateau, the Archaeological Park of Monte Sirai is divided into three areas—the high-settlement, the necropolises (13 underground family tombs), and the open-air tophet, where the ashes of infants and stillborn children were buried in urns. Enter through the North Gate public area to see the Temple of Ashtart ruins and where a Nuragic tower and water tank were once erected. From here, appreciate a panorama view of the entire region, including the Archipelago of Sulcis comprising Sant’Antioco and San Pietro islands.

This house at the Monte Sirai hilltop settlement had an inner courtyard and five rooms.

With archaeological sites and sacred cultural complexes set against rugged, unspoiled scenery, Sant’Antioco and Sardinia’s southwest make their layered past feel unusually present—in tombs carved from rock, in salt drawn from lagoon waters, in pre-phylloxera vines, and in the food and drink still served at family tables.

🔍 Search the site to discover more European Traveler feature stories. 🌍

FOLLOW US:

Discover Monte Isola: Fishing Heritage and Local Cuisine

By Alison Ramsey

Northern Italy island cuisine and fishing boats follow tradition

Literally translated to “Mount Island,” the beautiful village of Monte Isola, Italy, rises from the middle of Lake Iseo in the Brescia province in Lombardy. Monte Isola comprises three islands, the principal being Montisola—the largest inhabited lake island in Europe—reachable only by boat (ferries run approximately every 20 minutes during the day). Beneath the glittering cobalt water swims the sea life that, for years, inhabitants relied on for sustenance and livelihood. Montisola’s main industry is now tourism, but in the past, it was fishing.

Montisola island in Lake Iseo has many docks and fishing boats

Montisola island in Lake Iseo is lined with docks and fishing boats.

Fishing boats and islands dot Lake Iseo in the Brescia region of Italy.

Unique Wooden Fishing Boats

Shipbuilding yards focused heavily on making a typical style of fishing boat called the Naèt—long and narrow wooden boats, similar in style to the famous Venetian gondolas. Islanders depended on these light and agile boats for fast transportation to the mainland as well as for successful fishing. Naèts are difficult to construct and require great skill to make, with builders using an ax, hammer, chisel, and plane to cut and shape chestnut wood for the frame and durable larch wood for the remainder of the body.

The original flat 4.5-foot-wide boats were almost 23 feet long, with sails attached to two intercrossed chestnut wood poles—about 11.5 feet and 13 feet each. Around 1958, builders began removing the sails and adding engines to these boats, which shortened the boat length by about two feet. At the very center depth of the hull, the width remains only 80 cm. Every village uses its own color for their Naèts, so a quick glance at the docks identifies where each boat originated.

The only remaining shipbuilding yard on the island is Cantiere Nautico Ercole Archetti, and this craftsmanship-focused family company has trained five generations of carpenters to reach shipbuilding expertise. Building unique wooden boats since 1600, the team now uses cutting-edge technology but still makes their products entirely by hand, using carefully selected marine wood and employing highly qualified Master Shipwrights. Maintenance, storage, and rental are other offerings from Ercole Archetti Shipyards.

Paolo Archetti, owner of local net manufacturing company Bresciareti, said that nuns used to own property on the island and wanted to be paid for the land they lent out. Renters with limited cash began to pay the nuns in fish instead of funds—children loaded the special two-ended wooden needle with thread and women handwove the nets men used for fishing. Because fishing was most productive during the warm months of April, May, and June, islanders learned how to preserve their catches, drying the fish and conserving them in oil for later payment.

Top left: The color of a Naèt indicates from which village the boat originated.
Top right: The Bresciareti storefront sells handwoven net accessories and the company fulfills large orders of machine-created nets for sports, construction, and aviary control.
Bottom (photo courtesy of Michele Turla): Peschiera Maraglio port has always been a hotspot for boat parking.

Island Cuisine Includes Preserved Sardines

The pretty, pink-embellished Church of St. John the Baptist in Carzano, a small lakeside settlement on Montisola, is also known to locals as “St. John of the Sardines.” Independent tour guide Elena Confortini explained that on June 24 residents historically celebrated St. John’s feast day. On this day, which fell during the final seasonal period when sardines came closest to the shore and there was an abundance of fish, the church used to cook sardines in its front square and serve them freely. Although locally referred to as “sardines,” these fish are actually a species of freshwater twaite shad (Alosa fallax locustris) but are called sardèna in Italian because their appearance is similar to true sardines.

Left (photo courtesy of Michele Turla): Fishing was the primary industry in historical Monte Isola.
Right: Dried, salted, and preserved sardines on polenta are a traditional treat served by Sensole Locanda Contemporanea restaurant.

For centuries now, island cuisine has included dried, salted, and preserved fish—characteristically sardines, perch, and the common European whitefish (known in Italian as coregone). These fish, cured with salt and dried in the sun for 24 hours, are then washed and strung up in parallel lines dangling from hooks or tacked upon arches of ash branches secured with thread on both ends. After sunning outdoors in the heat for 5-10 days, the fish are removed into iron containers and pressed in olive oil. Several months in this state turns sardines a golden color, and they can then be seasoned simply with garlic, parsley, and oil, and grilled quickly over a hot fire. The surname “Archetti” is one of the more common names on Montisola. Translating to “little bows,” this name is derived from the bowed wooden frames erected all over the island for fish-drying.

Garden art pieces imitating fish-drying frames decorate the lakeside

Fish-drying frames are still used to dry sardines in the sun

Monte Isola fish-preservation techniques from the past are still used today across the island, and garden art pieces imitating fish-drying frames decorate the lakeside. (Black-and-white photo courtesy of Michele Turla)

Only two eateries on the island currently serve sardines, one of which is Sensole Locanda Contemporanea. This charming, yellow-walled lakeside restaurant sits directly down the rocky hillside below Martinengo Fortress, a privately owned castle with a recognizable circular lookout tower. Young restaurant owner, Giovanni Lo Bresti, expertly serves traditional dishes using locally grown products, with each course gorgeously plated. Try the intensely flavorful dried sardines (use fingers, not utensils, to eat it the authentic way!) alongside tasty bars of fried polenta. Enjoy Monte Isola smoked salami, grilled dry coregone fish, fried pike balls, homemade bread, butter sprinkled with perch bottarga (salted, cured fish roe), and spiced salami ragout with bread gnocchi.

Salted and dried sardines are served over fried polenta bars

The upper outdoor deck of Sensole Locanda Contemporanea restaurant overlooks beautiful Lake Iseo, while the lower outdoor patio invites guests from the pedestrian walk.

Montisola Olive Oil and Franciacorta Wine

At Sensole restaurant, diners can also try the deliciously light local extra virgin olive oil labeled “l’isola dell’olio” (translation: “island of the oil”). One olive grove of just nine trees produced 50 bottles of this particular oil in 2025, the last bottle of which was down to the last drops in late September.

The whole of Monte Isola contains approximately 15,000 olive trees of several varieties, with groves planted on steep terraces to match the upward sloping terrain. Although difficult to harvest mountainside, the olives produced are of high quality and thrive in the unique lake island microclimate. Montisola’s restaurants prepare homegrown products with local oil and pair dishes with DOC “controlled designation of origin” wines from the region, such as Caruna 100% Chardonnay Brut from the Franciacorta region’s vineyards (served only in the Franciacorta-specific tulip-shaped glasses that stimulate bubble longevity).

Local olive oil is made from olive trees on Montisola

Tasty local olive oil and flavorful, high-quality wines from the Franciacorta wine-growing region round out a relaxing and delicious meal provided by owner, Giovanni Lo Bresti, at Sensole Locanda Contemporanea.

All along the lakeside, pedestrians and bikers move down the winding path that separates glimmering water from flowering bushes and trees heavy with ripe fruit. Beside this promenade, sunbathers bask in golden rays and swimmers leap into the cool water to paddle amongst ducks and swans.

Here you can feel like you’ve stepped back into bygone times, commune with untouched nature, and enjoy an unhurried and uncrowded getaway. Wander the path to see garden art structures made of metal and wooden fish—imitating the ancient practice of drying the catch-of-the-day on arched racks—and peruse shops and cafes that use sardine and net décor to echo the fishing culture that sustained Monte Isola for so long.

HOW TO GET THERE… ✈️
Fly NEOS Air from JFK airport in New York to Milan, Italy, and then travel by train or car to Sulzano, on the eastern shore of Lake Iseo. Then, take the 5-minute ferry ride from mainland Sulzano to Peschiera Maraglio on Monte Isola. Visit neosair.com/it for flights and schedules.
Tip: If you follow NEOS Air on social media, you can often score flight discounts and coupons to use toward airfare.

WHERE TO STAY… 🛏️
For a day trip to Monte Isola, stay at the romantic and rich-with-history Cappuccini Resort (Via Cappuccini, 54, 25033 Cologne BS, Italy), a 30-minute drive from the Sulzano ferry dock. This charming monastery-turned-resort is beautiful, clean, peaceful, and tastefully furnished with a blend of vintage relics and modern décor. A separate building with yoga, sauna, steam cave, and bubbling grotto spa with fountains and sun-heated waters provides numerous relaxation opportunities. Wander the sprawling hillside grounds to visit the outdoor pool and explore blooming rose gardens and fruit orchards. For more information, please visit cappuccini.it/en.

BEFORE YOU GO… 💻
Navigate to italia.it and visitbrescia.it/en/ to discover events and experiences offered within the fascinating Brescia province. Bicycle tours, food and wine festivals, thermal springs, art museums, castles, Roman archeological ruins—round out your trip with a little of each.

Monte Isola, Italy

🔍 Search the site to discover more European Traveler feature stories. 🌍

FOLLOW US:

The Maritime Museum in Malta

When in Malta, a visit to the Malta Maritime Museum is worthwhile.

The museum is located at the Vittoriosa waterfront. During the presence of the Knights of Malta on the island, the site was used as the arsenal where the Order’s galley fleet was maintained.

During the time of the British presence in Malta, the site was developed as the naval bakery, built between 1842 and 1845 by British architect and engineer William Scamp. The naval bakery supplied the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean fleet stationed in Malta with its daily requirements of bread and biscuits. The “Bakery,” as it was and still is affectionately known, remained part of the Royal Naval establishment up to the closure of the British base in March of 1979.

The museum illustrates Malta’s maritime history from prehistory to the present day; the ancient shipping section includes Roman lead anchors and amphoras. The section dedicated to the Order of St. John includes an important collection of authentic period models, some originally pertaining to the Congre-gazione delle Galere, and to the Order’s nautical school.

The French interlude (1798-1800) is represented by two large French republican guns, a prisoner-of-war wooden model of the French second-rater Bucentaur, documents, edged period weapons, and a host of water colors, engravings and lithographs.

The British period (1800-1979) is particularly well represented. The hall is divided into various sections illustrating the role of the Royal Navy in Malta.

Maltese traditional boat models, such as the Latin-rigged Gozo boat, the Ferilla and the Kajjik, tools and paintings constitute the basis of a small hall dedicated to boat building in Malta.

For more information, visit www.heritagemalta.org/museums/maritime/maritimecoll.html