Ancient mill and lime kiln in the area of S’Elighe Entosu

Cargeghe is a typical village of Logudoro (tn* meaning “Land of gold”, it is an area in the northern part of Sardinia) positioned over the slopes of mount Pizzo ‘e Adde overlooking the valley of Campomela. In this territory there is a lot of evidence of ancient settlements, including the archaeological area of S’Elighe Entosu. In this highly evocative area, positioned between two rocky uplands and characterised by the presence of many domus de janas (tn* Neolithic tombs carved into rock called “houses of the fairies”), we also find traces of productive settlements, which operated up until the first half of the 20th century. These sites include several mills that exploited the energy of the local waterways basically for the milling of grains: the watermills have in fact represented the fundamental system of grinding grains in Sardinia for several centuries. The proper milling plant was a construction where you would find the grinding machine, activated by a horizontal or vertical wheel. There was also a lime kiln, that is an oven for the production of quicklime (calcium oxide), a material necessary for construction work, which probably used the local limestone as raw material, abundant in the territory. Great parts of the lime kiln’s structure and walls are still clearly visible, as well as one of the mills, dating back to the 19th century or maybe even earlier. Of the latter, during the first years of 2000, the external parts were restored with the objective of giving value to the productive and economic local history allowing it to become the operating quarters for a future business, or tourist office, of the archaeological area. The second building is located a little further up the slope, unfortunately in a state of ruin, made of carbonate rocks and ashlars, like the rest.

Source: mulinidisardegna.it