Our Green Train at Laconi
Sunday 15.10.23
Today is a little odd as we use the coach for a return to Mandas where yesterday we caught a service train south. Today we head in the opposite direction using one of the Green Train services to see more of the scenic beauty in the centre of the island.
An early arrival enables another quick visit to the same convenient coffee shop as used yesterday. On this journey it is noticeable that just about all of the coach journey travelling times are significantly over-estimated.
Transport today is also a throwback as we have a diesel loco and coaches. We are heading north from Mandas to Laconi. The line originally ran through some very rural areas ending in Sorgono; I have found a review of a trip reaching there in 2012 but there is no indication that any services now cover the line north of Laconi on a regular basis.
Part of the journey is alongside a reservoir and we see some very attractive scenery passing by as the line inevitably twists and turns along the hillsides to find their way between the sparse settlements.
Chiesa San Sebastiano at Isili
Other participants are not just taking the train trip but are going on a further excursion but our tour operator only booked the train – this may vary on future such tours. Looking at the Green Train excursions being outlined for 2024 it seems that they do not normally just offer the train – but it forms part of a larger offering on most of the services.
We return to Cagliari by coach – it is a lot faster by road than it was by rail! Once back in the capital we have a cultural excursion to the archaeological site at Nora which was originally a local settlement and then a Phoenician settlement. Later still Punic and eventually Roman which of course sits on the top of the others. Given its location at the southern end of Sardinia it became a major trading place as it was easily reached from all directions across the Mediterranean.
Roman Mosaics at Nora
As with many Roman sites there mosaics so implying it was a major site in the first century and predates Cagliari by a long time. We can see that it was highly compact settlement and yet there is a small amphitheatre and other communal facilities, so the population must have been in need of such resources. However much of the adjacent land is still used by the army and has yet to be excavated so may extend over a much greater area as well as there being a further extension which has now fallen below sea level as this end of the island is sinking into the sea.
We return to Cagliari for dinner.