Once you arrive in the heart of the vast Piana dei Grandi Sassi (Plain of the Big Stones), also called Valle della Luna (Valley of the Moon), surrounded by large granite boulders featuring anthropomorphic shapes, you will see an impressive tower rising up before your eyes, made of huge, roughly-hewn granite blocks positioned in irregular rows. It is the majestic Nuraghe Izzana, probably the largest Nuragic building in the whole of Gallura, on the border between the territories of Tempio Pausania and Aggius. From its summit, you can admire a wonderful 360-degree view: you’ll be struck by the wild beauty of the nature all around you. Here, the erosion caused by water and wind has dug out and shaped small and large cavities, such as caves and tafoni.

The grandeur and complexity of the Izzana brings to mind another building in Alta Gallura, the Nuraghe Majori, which stands near the present-day town of Tempio. They have the typical characteristics of the primordial ‘corridor-type’ nuraghi in common, which also differentiates them from many other more recent Nuragic structures. In fact, the Nuraghe Izzana dates back to between the end of the Early Bronze Age, at the beginning of the ‘stone tower’ civilisation, and the Final Bronze Age. The building has an oblong triangular shape with rounded corners. The chamber of the central tower has a tholos roof and is still intact, while the lateral ones, positioned at different heights from the ground, are now partially damaged but can be reached thanks to a series of internal corridors that run around the building. Two corridors branch off from the central chamber and one leads to four small cells arranged symmetrically.

One of the unusual features of the building is that it has various entrances: one in the south-east wall, leading into a short-splayed passageway covered by a jack arch that, in turn, leads to the chamber with a tholos roof. The second and main entrance is located in the south-west wall, built out of large well-worked stones, like the whole southern part of the nuraghe, and is the most recent. The entrance leads into a long corridor with an angular roof that, after a narrowing, leads you to the central chamber, which has a five-metre diameter and was built using rounded blocks that ‘rise’ in even rows up to the ogival closure. A flight of steps, now collapsed, led into a corridor with openings towards two other corridors. The first, longer one stretches diagonally, while the second slightly splayed one leads into a small uneven cell. On the left wall of the small room, you will notice the opening of another curved room. Another entrance to a straight corridor will take you out of the building through a narrow tunnel. The labyrinth-type layout has led some scholars to speak of a ‘nuraghe-trap’, built this way to confuse assailants. The unusual construction technique used and the uniqueness of the layout indicate that the construction is much more likely to be the result of several interventions that took place over time, the most recent of which may have modified and extended the initial buildings.