The Sacred Well of Santa Cristina was built by a mysterious civilization that applied remarkable knowledge of geometry and astronomy in its construction.
The archaeological site of Santa Cristina is situated amidst an oak and olive forest on the Abbasanta basalt plateau, in the Campidano region of Italy.
The Sacred Well of Santa Cristina has impressed scientists with its geometric architecture, which remains a mystery to this day.
The area outside the Sacred Well of Santa Cristina, Italy. (Photo: Andrea Raffin).
An Intriguing Stone Structure
The Sacred Well of Santa Cristina is located in the northeastern part of this archaeological site.
Local history narrates that this structure was built from basalt stones according to Nuragic culture, aimed at expressing water worship within the community of this civilization.
Archaeologists state that the Sacred Well is the most accurately and impressively carved structure in the Mediterranean.
Dating back to the late Bronze Age (between the 12th and 11th centuries BCE), visitors today can still admire the well’s perfect beauty.
The Santa Cristina Well is constructed from three main structures with high precision, including the outer space area, a staircase, and a hypogeum chamber—a famous architectural style from ancient times.
The outer space area is the first part of the complex that visitors see upon arriving at the site.
This area consists of a square open space surrounded by stone walls.
At the center of the well is a circular structure, where the Nuragic civilization may have conducted religious rituals.
Next is the staircase, a narrow passage leading from the outside to the hypogeum chamber.
The staircase is built using dry stone, meaning it was constructed without mortar or cement, featuring two spiraled staircases that allow visitors to descend into the hypogeum chamber.
The chamber is the most impressive part of the Sacred Well of Santa Cristina; it is excavated underground and covered by a vaulted stone ceiling.
The hypogeum is approximately 3 meters high and 5 meters in diameter, with a well at the center that is about 20 meters deep and 1.5 meters in diameter.
The walls of the well are built from stone and carved with spiral grooves.
The Mysterious Builders of the Sacred Well of Santa Cristina
According to scientists, the sacred well was constructed with astonishing knowledge of geometry, engineering, and astronomy.
It is recognized for its grand architectural style, characterized by tower-like stone structures, a style that the Nuragic civilization applied to their other constructions.
The Sacred Well of Santa Cristina is one of the hallmark structures showcasing the technical and architectural sophistication of this culture.
However, to this day, scientists have not been able to decipher the mathematical and geometric formulas used here.
Meanwhile, written traces from this civilization remain a mystery, with only a few references to Nuragic appearing in Roman and Greek literature.
