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Gianni Careddu/Wikimedia CommonsNuraghe Loelle in the town of Buddus was once surrounded by circular huts.In Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy, thousands of looming stone towers known as nuraghes dot the horizon against the Mediterranean blue sea and sky. While some stand alone as single towers, other structures are entire sprawling complexes with walls, courtyards, and adjoining villages. At first glance, these stone buildings are reminiscent of castles that date back to medieval times. But in reality, the nuraghes or nuraghi were built nearly 4,000 years ago, during the Bronze Age. Their sturdy design has withstood the millennia as evidence that the Nuragic people who built them were far ahead of their time.Over the decades, archaeologists have discovered 7,000 nuraghes on the island. But despite their prevalence, their purpose remains a mystery.Were they military fortresses, temples, private residences or something else entirely? Thats what experts are still trying to figure out.The History Of The Mysterious Nuragic CivilizationThe Nuragic people occupied Sardinia from roughly 1900 B.C.E. until 700 B.C.E. While much about this flourishing society remains murky, the civilization was a dominating presence in the Mediterranean for centuries. They engaged in both trade and warfare, controlling various ports on the island.Sardinia is rich in mines, primarily copper and lead, and the Nuragic people were skilled metalworkers. They imported tin from across the Mediterranean to make bronze figurines of people and animals, in addition to artifacts like swords and jewelry. They also made bronze casts of the nuraghes themselves.Silar/Wikimedia CommonsA bronze figurine from the early Iron Age depicting a Nuragic tribal chief. The Nuragic people mainly lived in villages consisting of simple huts, many of them constructed in the shadow of the nuraghes. However, since they left behind no written records, historians are left to speculate about most aspects of the society.Indeed, the most concrete evidence of the Nuragic civilization is their namesake: the nuraghe.Nuraghes, The Stone Towers That Have Baffled Archaeologists For DecadesWhile much about the nuraghes left behind by the Nuragic people is up for debate, archaeologists have studied them enough to split the structures into roughly three categories: the protonuraghe, tholos nuraghe, and complex nuraghe. Public DomainThe single-tower nuraghe of Santa Sabina.The protonuraghe, or corridor nuraghe, is the earliest rendition of the structure. These nuraghes were likely built between 1700 and 1500 B.C.E. They werent as round or conical as the structures that came after them, and instead of a circular room inside, they had long, narrow corridors.Like all nuraghes, protonuraghes were constructed without mortar or cement and were held together by the weight of the stones used to build them. They typically contained a stairway that led to a flat roof, which seemingly had wooden huts on top.Later nuraghes had more complicated designs. The tholos nuraghe the structure seen most frequently across Sardinia today was a single conical tower that rose into a beehive-like shape. They had two or three levels made completely from stone, and some reached heights of more than 60 feet.A short corridor led to a round chamber inside, and a spiral staircase ascended to the top of the structure. Small slits in the walls allowed light to penetrate through the stone. ngel M. Felicsimo/Wikimedia CommonsSu Nuraxi di Barumini, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sardinia, is a complex nuraghe with numerous towers, internal chambers, and adjoining structures.As the centuries went on, nuraghes only became more impressive, eventually resembling medieval castles. These complex nuraghes typically featured a center tower with multiple smaller towers surrounding it. The structures were connected by fortified walls with walkways that formed a courtyard. Some complex nuraghes had two or three layers of walls, and the center towers were up to 100 feet tall. One such nuraghe, Su Nuraxi di Barumini, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. UNESCO calls it the finest and most complete example of this remarkable form of prehistoric architecture.Nuraghes are certainly astounding to behold but what were they used for?Theories About The Purpose Of The NuragheWhile the original purpose of the nuraghe remains a mystery, archaeologists have put forth various theories about their function. In a 2022 study published in Open Archaeology, researchers laid out the most common explanations about the purpose of the towers: military fortresses, religious sites, or private residences.One popular theory claims that the nuraghes were built as a means of defense against foreign attacks. Supporters point to the complexes with fortified walls and towers with slits that may have been used to throw spears or shoot arrows at assailants.Dragonjack97/Wikimedia CommonsWindows in the stone are visible on this nuraghe in the town of Macomer.However, some researchers have argued that the nuraghes, particularly the earlier corridor nuraghes, would have been impractical and too small to hold a community seeking refuge against a military assault. Rather than fortresses, the structures may have acted as intimidating symbols to deter attacks. Most researchers do agree, however, that the nuraghes were used as lookout towers and likely stored food or weapons. Its usually possible to see one nuraghe from atop another, so they may have been watchtowers or even markers for the boundary of a clans territory.Hans Peter Schaefer/Wikimedia CommonsNuraghe Arrubiu, one of the largest in Sardinia, gets its name from the red lichens that cover the stones.Other historians believe that the nuraghes were ordinary family homes. Artifacts found in several nuraghes like pottery, grinding stones, small tools, animal bones, and spindle whorls suggest that domestic activities took place inside the structures. The nuraghes may have also been elite dwellings or meeting halls, as many of them were built in the center of villages filled with smaller huts. Another hypothesis suggests that they held religious significance and perhaps even served as temples, though there isnt enough evidence to confirm this theory. Ceremonial objects have been discovered in some nuraghes, but they may have been repurposed for ritual use long after the Nuragic civilization built the structures. However, a 2002 study published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy did uncover potential astronomical links. The entrances to a number of nuraghes seem to align with the sunrise on the winter solstice and the southernmost point of the Moons rise. Daniel Ventura/Wikimedia CommonsVisitors explore the sprawling complex at Su Nuraxi di Barumini.This suggests that the nuraghes may have been used by the Nuragic civilization as a sort of calendar to determine when to plant crops or celebrate certain ceremonies. Still, this likely wasnt their main purpose and we may never know their true function.Despite the mysteries surrounding the nuraghes, however, they provide an unparalleled look into the ancient history of the Mediterranean. The Nuragic civilization that built them may be long gone, but the stone towers still stand today as iconic symbols of the island of Sardinia.After reading about the mysterious nuraghe towers of Sardinia, discover the theories behind the Nazca Lines of Peru. Then, dive into the debate about who built Stonehenge.The post The Puzzling History Of The Nuraghes, The Ancient Stone Towers That Have Become Symbols Of Sardinia appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Click here to view slideshowHidden by thick forestry, Houska Castle in Czechia is shrouded in nightmarish myth and occultist legend. It was built atop a cliff in Prague's countryside, mysteriously isolated from all trade routes. It had no source of water or fortification. Some say it wasn't built to keep evil from entering but to prevent it from spilling out.According to the castle's official website, it was built in the 13th century as an administrative hub for the king, but Czech folklore maintains that the true purpose of its construction was to seal a gaping crack in the limestone. Locals believed this was a gateway to Hell from which demonic beings emerged to feed on villagers and drag them back into the abyss, never to be seen again.Legend has it that prisoners who were facing the gallows were offered full pardons, but only if they agreed to be lowered into the bottomless hole and report on what they saw. The first man to do so was young and healthy, and he happily accepted. Within seconds, however, he cried to be raised up. When he was pulled from the chasm, his hair had turned white.The castle's eerie history doesn't stop there, though. Nazi experiments took place within its walls during World War II. Some say the Wehrmacht occupied this castle precisely to investigate whether the gateway to Hell was real, as feverish occultism had consumed its higher ranks. Today, Houska Castle remains one of the most haunted places on Earth.The Haunted History Of Houska CastleWhile Houska Castle now welcomes countless tourists from around the world, the limestone cliff on which it sits has drawn people in since antiquity. Archaeological evidence shows Celtic tribes inhabited the land far before the Middle Ages, and Slavic tribes migrated to the region in the sixth century.As Bohemian chronicler Vclav Hjek detailed in his Czech Chronicle in 1541, the first known structure at the site was a small wooden fort in the ninth century. Hjek also recounted local folklore that described the emergence of a crack in the cliff. It revealed a seemingly endless abyss that villagers deemed an entrance to Hell.Locals were terrified of the half-human hybrids that began to crawl out of the hole at night and tear livestock apart. Fearful of turning into these demonic entities themselves, villagers avoided the rocky entrance. They tried to block it with stones, but the abyss allegedly gobbled up anything they dropped into it, refusing to be filled. jolene_fleur/InstagramThe castle's chapel was dedicated to Archangel Michael.King Ottokar II of Bohemia had the gothic structure built sometime between 1253 and 1278. Oddly, the original construction omitted stairs from the courtyard to the upper floors, and most of the structure's defenses were built facing inwards. It was as if the purpose of the castle wasn't to keep invaders out but rather to keep something trapped within.Perhaps most notable of all, the king had the gateway to Hell sealed with stone plates and had a chapel built above it. The chapel was dedicated to the Archangel Michael who led God's armies against Lucifer's fallen angels, leading some to believe the gateway truly existed or still does. By 1639, the castle was occupied by a Swedish mercenary named Oronto. The black magic practitioner allegedly toiled nightly in his laboratory in an effort to create an elixir for eternal life. This instilled villagers with so much mortal fear that two local hunters assassinated him. Despite Oronto's death, locals continued to avoid the area.The Gateway To Hell In The Modern DayScholars have since discovered cracks in Hjek's histories, and any evidence of Oronto's existence is rather dubious.Houska Castle did trade hands between various nobles and aristocrats in later centuries, however. It was renovated in the 1580s, fell into disrepair by the 1700s, and was fully restored in 1823. A century later, Josef imonek, president of koda Auto, purchased the castle for himself.In the 1940s, the Nazis overtook the castle during their occupation of Czechoslovakia, though their reasons for doing so are unclear, as the castle lacked defenses and was 30 miles from Prague. According to Castles Today, some believe they needed to secure the 13,000-manuscript library of SS leader Heinrich Himmler, who was obsessed with the occult and believed that its power would help the Nazis rule the world. Himmler allegedly feared his trove of blasphemous materials would be destroyed in the war, but was something even more sinister afoot? Locals at the time reported strange lights and horrifying sounds coming from the castle. Some say that many top Nazi officials, including Himmler, attended dark ceremonies at Houska Castle in which they attempted to harness the power of Hell. Wikimedia CommonsSkeletal remains of Nazis were purportedly found in the courtyard of Houska Castle.After the war, the imonek family regained ownership of Houska Castle, and they still own it to this day. The castle has been open to the public since 1999. The Prague Daily Monitor reports that many visitors are baffled by its counterintuitive architecture and unnerved by the fresco paintings in the chapel.The strangest of these paintings depicts a creature with the upper body of a human woman and the lower body of a horse.While it was unheard of at the time to include depictions of pagan mythology in a church, even more staggering is the fact that the centaur is using its left hand to shoot an arrow as left-handedness was associated with service to Satan in the Middle Ages. Historians believe the painting is a hint to the creatures that lurk beneath the church.Indeed, to this day, visitors claim to hear screams and scratching noises from beneath the chapel floor.After learning about Houska Castle, read about Caerlaverock Castle and its 800 years of Scottish history. Then, check out 33 pictures of Spain's Bellver Castle.The post 33 Photos Of Houska Castle, The Gothic Fortress Built To Seal A Gateway To Hell appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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