The nuraghe S. Antonio di Segariu, located a short distance from the town, has been the subject of numerous archaeological excavation campaigns, to which we owe the achieved legibility of the structures and the confirmation of the complex reuse undergone by the area over the centuries.
Erected in limestone and marl blocks, the nuraghe has a four-lobed plan layout, with a central tower and four outer towers oriented to the cardinal points.
The eastern sector abutting the nuraghe and part of its inner sectors have returned clear evidence of a large and interesting late Punic phase settlement.
Equally interesting is the presence, near the nuraghe, of the small church of the same name, built over a sacred well probably coeval with the Nuragic settlement.
This circumstance could be interpreted as an expression of continuity between different cultures, since water, the worship of which was typical of the Nuragic period, plays, as is well known, a primary role in the Christian religion as well, even being regarded, in both the Old and New Testaments, as a sign of the divine spirit. However, the exact opposite could also be argued, in the sense that the building of St. Anthony’s church over the holy well could be interpreted as a desire to prevaricate pre-existing “pagan” cults.
Finally, a “secular” hypothesis is equally reasonable, in the sense that the masonry structures of the well could theoretically have constituted (but there is no evidence to support the latter hypothesis), a convenient base of support for the building of the church, or part of it.
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