There are places in Sardinia where silence has a different density. Pranu Muttedu is one of them: a plateau of cork oaks and wind in the heart of the Gerrei, just outside the small village of Goni, little more than an hour from the beaches of Villasimius. Here, between 3200 and 2800 BC, the people of the Ozieri culture raised dozens of stones towards the sky. They call it the "Sardinian Stonehenge", but the comparison doesn't do it justice: Pranu Muttedu resembles nothing but itself.
The largest group of menhirs in Sardinia
The archaeological park covers about twenty hectares of cork oaks and Mediterranean scrub, and holds around fifty menhirs: the largest group on the whole island. They are tall, tapering stones of local sandstone, of the "proto-anthropomorphic" type: look closely and you can make out the outline of a human figure, a presence keeping watch.
Some menhirs stand alone, others in pairs, others still are arranged in long alignments that cut across the plateau: the most famous has around twenty stones in a row, oriented along the path of the sun. What they really meant — astronomical markers, guardians of the dead, stone deities — no one can say for certain. And it is precisely this mystery that makes the visit unforgettable.
The tombs of the Ozieri culture
Pranu Muttedu isn't only menhirs: above all it is a Neolithic necropolis, a place where megalithic building and rock-cut tombs meet. The tombs, excavated and studied by archaeologist Enrico Atzeni in the 1970s and 1980s, are burial chambers enclosed by concentric circles of stones; the most monumental, Tomb II, is carved into huge sandstone blocks and recalls the domus de janas, the "fairy houses" of Sardinian tradition.
Five thousand years ago, this was where people marked the passage between life and whatever comes after. Today, walking among the stone circles under the oaks, that threshold still feels thin.
How to get there and when to go
Goni is about an hour and a quarter's drive from Villasimius, heading inland through the Gerrei: a scenic road that is worth the trip on its own, through hills, cork oaks and stone villages. The park is open all year round; the best times are early morning and late afternoon, when the low light sets the sandstone glowing and stretches the shadows of the menhirs.
It's the perfect day trip for anyone who wants to discover Sardinia beyond the sea: the Neolithic of Pranu Muttedu in the morning, and on the way back a stop among the rows of our vineyard for a sunset tasting.
Wine and stone
There is a thread that links Pranu Muttedu to our winery, and it is the land itself. The hands that raised menhirs five thousand years ago are the ancestors of the hands that prune the vines today. Brennas, our Cannonau di Sardegna DOC, has the ancient depth of those stones; C'Alma, our orange wine, patiently macerated on its skins, is a wine that — like Pranu Muttedu — asks you to stop and listen.
Take a piece of this Sardinia home with you: our wines are available in the Colline del Vento online shop.
