Crossing the threshold of the temenos, the sacred enclosure, you will be able to imagine the amazement of the ancient visitors before the magnificence of the monument, though the most surprising aspect does not catch the eye right away and is hidden further upstream: it is the only (currently known) example of a Nuragic aqueduct that served the village and the sanctuary of Gremanu. The complex is set in a thick oak forest in the valley of Pratobello, about a thousand metres above sea level between the elevations of Gennargentu, in the territory of Fonni, the ‘highest’ village in Sardinia. The site occupies about seven hectares and is divided into two parts: inside the first, there are the wells and water sources, while further downstream are the residential and religious areas. The springs are enclosed within a semicircular curtain wall, next to which you will notice a basin, probably used for ritual purposes. A small channel directed the water from a spring to a well, then from here a system of canals guided it to the sanctuary.
The religious area, delimited by a 70-metre-long fence, contains various buildings: a temple with a circular layout similar to a nuraghe, a small megaron temple, an apsidal room and two circular huts. The entrance, facing south, led into a semicircular courtyard equipped with counter-seats. On the sides of the entrance door to the temples there are the two huts, perhaps a stopping point for the worshippers. The circular temple has a granite and schist paved floor, a niche and a seat. Traces of fires, the remains of a dividing wall decorated with protomes and zig-zag patterns and a granite ‘socle’ lead us to think that metals were melted here to make votive objects. The megaron temple is eleven metres long, consisting of a vestibule and a cell, inside which you can see a pink granite wall running crosswise and leaning against the back wall, which delimits another room, perhaps intended to contain the ritual hearth. The apsidal temple, made of granite ashlars, also consists of a vestibule and a cell, with a paved floor. The buildings date back to the Recent Bronze Age (13th-12th century BC), while the artefacts found between the sanctuary and the wells date back to the Final Bronze Age (11th century BC). Outside the temples, there are stone bases with holes: here the molten bronze was poured to secure votive objects, swords or small bronze statues.
A kilometre and a half separates the sanctuary from a funeral area, which perhaps belonged to the village: it is the necropolis of Madau, made up of four Tombs of Giants similar to each other, positioned in an amphitheatre layout and facing east. Here, you can also admire the stele of Madau, a granite slab set in the ground next to the first tomb, depicting symbols linked to nature or perhaps to the constellation of the Pleiades.
