The sinis

Marine Protected Area Pensiola del Sinis - Mal di Ventre Island

Island of Mal di Ventre

Capo Mannu / Is Arenas

Is Arutas / Mari Ermi

Su Tingiosu

The Sinis peninsula, about 170 square kilometers in surface, extends into the sea of the western coast of Sardinia, between the Gulf of Oristano, the sea of Sardinia, the Cabras pond and the southern end of the Montiferru. Sinis is a strip of land rich in history: with its settlements dating back to the Neolithic period, it is considered one of the first areas of Sardinia to be inhabited. This area has always offered man a very fertile soil for crops, a sea and abundant ponds; witnessing this are the 64 nuraghi surveyed on the peninsula, which give the area the primacy of the highest nuragic population density in Sardinia. Another very important example of how this area lent itself to the establishment of large communities comes from the ancient Punic-Phoenician city of Tharros, the well-preserved vestiges still dominate the extreme north-western edge of the Gulf of Oristano. The coastal towers present in large numbers in the Sinis are very interesting. In the period between the end of the year 1000 and that of 1500 Sardinia found itself in a non-flourishing situation, due to the continuous attacks on the coasts, despite the fact that the Pisans had built the first towers along the coasts.

The populations that lived by the sea were forced to abandon their residences by taking refuge inside because they were constantly attacked by pirates; activities such as fishing and tuna traps were also abandoned; even navigation for commercial purposes had become somewhat difficult and therefore very limited. The summer months were those in which most of the Barbary raids took place, and groups of men on horseback were set up in order to patrol the coasts for those months. The pirates, however, realizing that in the remaining months the coasts remained unattended, they decided to attack throughout the year. A new remedy had to be made by intensifying supervision and distributing it not only in the summer months.

The solution came in 1581, when Philip II of Spain set up the “Royal Administration of Towers”, having towers built in all strategic points of the island with the task of organizing and managing an effective coastal defense system. Thus began a period of tranquility for the coasts of Sardinia; activities that had long been abandoned such as fishing, tuna fishing and sea trade resumed. The Royal Administration of the towers planned to build new towers, taking care of the maintenance of the existing ones. It also supplied these structures of military equipment and anything else that was necessary for optimal functioning. The towers were distinguished from each other and also had a different use depending on where they were located.

Strong towers (heavy defense): these towers generally had four cannons, two pushers, five rifles. The force consisted of an alcade, a gunner and four soldiers.
Torri Senzillas (light defense): they were not so big towers, equipped with two cannons, a push and three rifles. The garrison consisted of an alcade, a gunner, two or three soldiers.
Torrezillas (sighting): structurally small, they were equipped with two rifles, sometimes a spartan and manned by two soldiers.