It blends with the setting of granite rocks and Mediterranean scrub and is reflected in the clear blue waters, where it has been watching over the stretch of sea between the uncontaminated island of Spargi and Sardinia for two centuries. The Talmone military battery stands on Punta Don Diego, next to the beach of the same name and near Cala Trana, in the territory of Palau: it is an integral part of a defence system built at the end of the 18th century on the extreme northern coast of the Island, after the conquest of the Maddalena Archipelago by the Savoys. It consists of around fifty forts, small forts and batteries, scattered throughout the present-day national park. A place of great historical value, protagonist in events of war during the Unification of Italy and the world wars. The numerous guns that looked out from its underground battlements defended the borders of two kingdoms, Sardinia and Italy, becoming strategically important after the Unification of Italy, especially when the royal fleet took up residence in the Maddalena base.

From the watchtower of Talmone, the adjacent canal between the mainland and Spargi was kept in the line of fire and was the scene of epic naval battles during the Second World War. Then, in 1947, the Treaty of Paris compelled Italy to dismantle the base and discontinue the military batteries. More than half a century of abandonment followed, until 2002, when the maritime artillery site was entrusted under concession for 25 years by the Sardinia Region to the Fondo Ambiente Italiano - FAI (Italian National Trust), which, thanks to careful restyling and redevelopment interventions - still in progress - guarantees its opening and visits open to the public.

After parking your car in the locality of Costa Serena, you will come to the military fortification, by taking an easy albeit bumpy path towards Punta Sardegna, surrounded by greenery, with the scents of juniper, laurel and myrtle and granite sculptures carved by the northwesterly wind, and moving above beaches and marvellous coves. Your half-hour walk will be rewarded with the quietness of a former military shelter by the sea.

The naval battery, a sort of ‘ship on land’ perfectly located in the rugged and spectacular Gallura landscape, takes us back in time and tells us about military works and secrets, discreet traces left by man in uncontaminated nature, the hard life of soldiers and the long and solitary hours spent gazing at the sea. You will see the basement glacises where cannons were positioned, with the ammunition depots alongside them, then a turret that served as a gun laying station and lastly, about 70 metres from the shooting stations, the barracks, its numerous splendidly-restored rooms and original bright colours. Inside the dormitories that accommodated 70 sailors stationed at Punta Don Diego, were the guards’ quarters, the command office, the canteen and the caboose. At the top, on the right, there is an observatory. The armed batteries are on the sea, with a lookout equipped with machine guns, and in the vegetation you will see the armoury entirely dug out of the granite rock, while, beyond the battery, a coastal path reaches another lookout camouflaged between the granite rocks. In fact, the most evident feature is the perfect integration between the complex and the environment, in which it is totally camouflaged and hidden from the enemy.