The Fairy Houses (Case delle Fate) in Cardedu are archaeological remains of ancient burial sites of the Nuraghe people. The Nuraghe people inhabited the island of Sardinia from the bronze age to the second century AD, some 20 thousand years! The Nuraghe would place their dead within the carved out rocks in the fetal position and then close them off with large boulders. They, like many other civilisations across the globe, believed in life after death and the holes carved into the rocks were designed to represent the womb, with many being found with carved and painted symbols representing the feminine and birth. This was also why the bodies were placed in the fetal position…they were returning to the womb ready for their next life.
The site at Cardedu is found by walking about 30 minutes from the car park, which is found opposite the entrance to Perda Pera Resort. You can find the location on my area map. There is a path leading from the Car Park which is shaded for a time, You will then join and come to a fork in a gravel road, take the right hand track and then it’s a bit of a steep uphill trek for about 10-15 minutes along a gravel track.
It’s a peaceful place, and although this will be a photo post, as usual, photos cannot really transmit the feeling and energy of the place. It is a site I would thoroughly recommend visiting, you can cycle all the way to the site if you’re fit and take the gravel road, but I enjoy the gentle walk. If you’re coming mid summer, I would suggest going early morning or late evening to avoid the heat and make sure you have plenty of water as there are no services or cafes at the site!
So here they are, my photos of our trip to the Fairy Houses with my partner, best friend and our two wonderful labradors! I hope it inspires you to check them out…
The view along the track
You can crawl through the opening at the side to this one and sit on the ledge!
This one has 3 separate chambers with one being a large chamber that has two entrances.
One of the entrances
A peaceful place!
Another structure which you can enter to reach a ledge
The ledge as viewed from the front
Our labs sitting on the ledge – taken from inside the structure
The ledge viewed as you round the corner
The Hobbit House!
Rectangular Carving
We then went off the path to explore!
Awesome, massive boulders…you could walk through the gap if you were brave enough!