An impressive Roman temple set in bucolic scenery 9km south of Fluminimaggiore, the Tempio di Antas has stood in isolation since the 3rd century AD. Built by the emperor Caracalla, it was constructed over a 6th-century-BC Punic sanctuary, which was itself set over an earlier nuraghic settlement. In its Roman form, the temple was dedicated to Sardus Pater, a Sardinian deity worshipped by the nuraghic people as Babai and by the Punic as Sid, god of warriors and hunters.
After lying abandoned for centuries, the temple was discovered in 1836 and extensively restored in 1967. Most impressively, the original Ionic columns were excavated and re-erected. At the foot of these columns you can make out remains of the temple's Carthaginian predecessor, which the Romans cannibalised to erect their version.
From the site several paths branch off into the surrounding countryside. One of them, the Strada Romana, leads from near the ticket office to what little remains of the original nuraghic settlement and on to the Grotta di Su Mannau, 2.5km away.
