Historical places in Sardinia: Sa Domu e S’Orcu

One of the largest and most impressive tombs in Sardinia is Sa Domu e S’Orcu, located on the Giara di Siddi.

The popular legend tells that it was the home of big orcs, hence theorigin of the name, and it was said that there were found several bones, the remains of their banquets.

Paradoxically, in this particular tomb, bones have never been found, unlike other similar sites.

Its structure is very particular; a room fifteen meters long and two and a half meters high, the facade made up of rows and from the central opening there are two semi-circular arms that seem to reproduce the shapes of the horns of a bull.

Assumptions on the origin of the Sa Domu and S’Orcu site

According to some scholars, this architecture would be dedicated to the god Thaurus. In the period in which the site is dated, XVI century BC about, as shown by various votive statuettes, the God Bull was in fact venerated as a symbol of strength.

Another hypothesis, credited by some scholars, identify the structure and, in particular, the two semi-circular arms, such as the stylized reproduction of the legs of a parturient, which moves the symbolic value of the building on the theme of fertility, rebirth and continuation of life after death. This theory refers to the cult of the Goddess Mother, fundamental divinity of time, also widely stylized in various finds and statuettes.

Although no bone remains have been found, the funeral function is not in doubt, considering the nature very similar to that of all the other tombs of the giants found on the island.

There is, however, another theory, equally interesting, which has found, thanks to its mysterious charm, a lot of public favor.

According to some scholars, the tomb of the Giants Sa Domu and S’Orcu would be built on the basis of a sort of esoteric map corresponding to the points where the energy flows, invisible currents that are released from the earth, are most concentrated and that the man, thanks to a process of osmosis, is able to absorb.

The semi-circular arms of the tomb would be arranged exactly in coincidence with the energy lines, so as to capture the flow to store it in the stone slabs. These, through this phenomenon, would acquire healing properties: under certain conditions, it would be sufficient to place one’s body in contact with the stela to benefit from it.

It is not excluded, in fact, that in the past, at Sa Domu and S’Orcu, rituals were carried out aimed at healing from physical illnesses and mental infirmities, or even at the resurrection of the dead who, once laid on these steles, would be pervaded by the force transmitted by the god Taurus or by the life insufflated by the goddess Mother.

So much more would be written on this exceptional site, and we will certainly do it in other articles.