Nora – Phoenician Submerged Harbour at Pula, Sardinia
Nora (Phoenician) · Nora Sardinia · Pula Nora · Phoenician Nora
Phoenician to Late Antique (800 BCE – 600 CE)·Phoenician / Punic / Roman / Nuragic·🇮🇹 Sardinia, South Sardinia, Pula (Cagliari), Italy
About
About Nora – Phoenician Submerged Harbour at Pula, Sardinia
Nora on Capo di Pula isthmus was Sardinia first Phoenician colony (8th c. 5 m sea-level rise since Roman. Underwater excavations by Michel Cassien (1978–84) and Soprintendenza (1990–) mapped a 120 m ashlar quay at −1 to −3 m off the isthmus, a Punic tophet islet and Roman ship graveyard with 7 wrecks (3rd c. BCE–6th c. CE) at −8 m. The eastern harbour (for levante winds) is silted under Pula lagoon; the western anchorage mole (60 m) subsided. The Roman theatre (1,100 seats) and temple of Eshmun overlook the drowned quay.
Excavation ongoing with Genoa University.
Why it mattersEarliest Phoenician harbour in west Mediterranean with Nora Stone trilingual and 40% submerged quay demonstrating +1.5 m sea-level rise on Sardinian isthmus.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether Nora harbour was double (east lagoon silted vs west submerged)
- 02Location of Nora Stone original temple above quay
Theories
- 01Nora chosen as isthmus double harbour shelter from Scirocco and Mistral
- 02Quay built over Nuragic harbour reused by Phoenicians
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 800 BCE Phoenician Nora on Capo di Pula isthmus
- Period
- Phoenician to Late Antique (800 BCE – 600 CE)
- Culture
- Phoenician / Punic / Roman / Nuragic
- Builders
- Phoenicians / Tyrians
- Purpose
- Phoenician harbour for Sardinian silver, lead and Tyrian purple on isthmus double harbour
- Abandoned
- c. 600 CE after Vandal and harbour submergence
- Rediscovered
- 1978 Michel Cassien underwater Nora survey
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c. 800 BCE
Phoenicians found Nora on Capo di Pula isthmus; Nora Stone inscribed
238 BCE
Rome takes Nora; western anchorage mole built
1978
Cassien maps 120 m submerged quay at -1 to -3 m
On the ground
Structures & features
38.9833° N · 9.0167° E · -1 m · 2 mapped features
Submerged ashlar quay 120 m off isthmus
quay120 m Punic ashlar quay at −1 to −3 m off Capo di Pula isthmus
38.9835° N · 9.0170° ERoman ship graveyard 7 wrecks at −8 m
wreck7 wrecks 3rd c. BCE–6th c. CE at −8 m off western anchorage
38.9820° N · 9.0150° E