Domus de Janas: Sardinia's Fairy Houses
Long before the first nuraghi were built, the people of Sardinia carved elaborate burial chambers into the rock – around 3,500 of them survive to this day.
What Domus de Janas are
The name literally means "houses of the fairies." They are Neolithic tomb chambers carved directly into soft rock between roughly 4400 and 2300 BC – by the Ozieri culture and other pre-nuraghic cultures on the island.
Recreating a house for the dead
Inside, gabled roofs, columns, hearths, and even stone beds were recreated – a deliberate attempt to give the dead a home within the rock. Some walls still show traces of red ochre and bull's-head symbols, presumably intended as protective symbols.
Why they're barely known
Overshadowed by the better-known nuraghi and the Giants of Mont'e Prama, the Domus de Janas are forgotten by most Sardinia travelers – even though they're among the oldest surviving traces of human settlement on the island.