Nuragic Fountain of Frades Mareos

The Nuragic Fountain of Frades Mareos is located on the outskirts of the town towards north-east, on the northern side of a hill on the top of which are still the remains of a nuraghe bearing the same name (tn* nuraghe: large megalithic, tower-shaped, prehistoric stone structures found in Sardinia, dating from the second millennium BC to the Roman conquest). It can be reached via a dirt road, connected to the road to Chiaramonti. The monument comprises a vestibular corridor that leads to the circular chamber covered by a tholos (tn* false dome) and that contains the spring. Comparing this structure to similar ones, it is highly probable that this fountain had a sacred function in the past and was used to worship water. The original plan was trapezoidal, with benches along the side walls. It was altered by several interventions undertaken by the owner of the land over the years. The pre-existing benches aren’t visible anymore because they have been completely covered by cement. This has also reduced the space inside the chamber. The vestibule walls are two metres high near the cell and are made of naturally shaped boulders, or roughly chiselled trachyte stones of medium to large dimensions, arranged in irregular horizontal layers. he covering is a flat arch made of a big stone slab. The stagnating water and rubble prevent us from seeing if the pavement is cobbled in the chamber as it is in other similar structures. The opening leading to the tholos chamber is wider than the original and quadrangular, but it used to be trapezoidal. The threshold stone has a semi-circular drainage channel, oddly positioned towards the left. The chamber has a circular plan, it is 1.35 m high and 2.18 m deep and the ogival covering becomes narrow quickly. The walls are made of medium and small-sized stones, less rough than those in the corridor and positioned more carefully in regular horizontal layers.
The remains of the Nuraghe Frades Mareos are located on a small plateau, about a kilometre north-east of Ploaghe. According to the data collected by Professor Lillina Fiori, in her graduation thesis of the 1965-1966 academic year, the diameter of the tower is approximately 10.80 metres and the thickness of the nuragic section is 4.50 metres. The chamber is central and round with a diameter measuring 3.20 metres. The only part left of the nuraghe is the lower layer of trachyte stones, spread all over the land.

Source: graduation thesis of Lillina Fiori, Contributions of Giovanni Spano.