39°52′24″N8°26′23″E / 39.8733°N 8.43972°E /39.8733; 8.43972
 View of reconstructedCorinthian columns at Tharros | |
  Tharros Shown within Sardinia | |
| Type | Settlement |
|---|---|
| History | |
| Founded | Eighth century BCE |
| Cultures | Nuragic civilization,Punic civilization,Roman civilization |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Management | I Beni Culturali della Sardegna |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | official website |
Tharros (also spelledTharras,Archaic Greek:Θάρρας,Ptolemaic Hellenistic:Τάρραι/Τάρρας,Tárrai/Tárras;Latin:Tarrhae/Tarrhas) was an ancient city and former bishopric on the west coast ofSardinia,Italy.
It is currently a Latin Catholictitular see and an archaeological site near the village of San Giovanni di Sinis, municipality ofCabras, in theProvince of Oristano. It is located on the southern shore of the Sinis Peninsula, which forms the northern cape of theBay of Oristano, by the cape of San Marco. Tharros, mentioned byPtolemy and in theItineraries, seems to have been one of the most important places on the island.
Until some years ago, the archaeological findings in the area of Tharros supported the theory thatPhoenicians founded the town in eighth century BC. The probability of this was reduced by the finding of some parts of the old settlement in theMistras Lagoon. A submerged 100 m wall seems to be part of a port structure much older than the Phoenician one, since in 1200 BCsea level rose, swallowing the existing buildings.[1] A previousnuragic settlement apparently existed there in theBronze Age, as thenuragic presence near thetophet area seems to suggest.[2][3]
Archaeologists found atophet, an open-air sacred place common for several installations of Phoenicians in the westernMediterranean, on top of a hill called Su Muru Mannu near the remains of a village built by the Nuragic peoples (1900-730 BC[4]). This is seen as a first sign ofcolonization andurbanization.
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Excavations showed that from the 8th century BC until its abandonment in the 10th century Tharros was inhabited, first by Phoenicians, then byPunics and then byRomans. The town was the capital of the medieval Giudicato ofArborea, a Roman/Byzantine relict state from the 9th century until 1070 whenOrzocorre I of Arborea relocated toOristano under pressure ofSaracen raiders. The town was effectively abandoned at this time or shortly thereafter. The site was then used for centuries as aquarry. An inscription records the repair of the road from Tharras toCornus as late as the reign of Roman emperorPhilip.[5] TheAntonine Itinerary correctly places it 18 miles from Cornus and 12 from Othoca (modernSanta Giusta nearOristano).[6] However, its history during most of the period of Roman domination orearly Christianity is unknown.
TheDiocese of Tharros was established around the year 400, its only presumably historically recorded bishop being Johannes circa 500.It was renamed as theDiocese of Sinis-Tharros in 700. In 800 it gained territory from the suppressedDiocese of Cornus.
From 1000 it was promoted theMetropolitan Archdiocese of Sinis-Tharros, apparently to match the prestige of theGiudice (feudal temporal governor) of Arborea, which had taken residence there, with twosuffragan sees:Diocese of Santa Giusta andDiocese of Terralba and Uselli. In 1070 it lost territory to establish theDiocese of Bosa.
It was formally suppressed in 1093, its territory being reassigned to establish of the MetropolitanArchdiocese of Oristano, where its seat had been established in 1070 following the depopulation of the city thereto.
In 1755 the diocese was nominally restored as Latintitular bishopric, bearing the name ofSinita until it was renamedSinis in 1793. Its incumbents were/are of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, with an Archiepiscopal exception (title Tharros).[7]
The area is now an open-air museum with active excavation sites. Among the interesting structures are the tophet, thebath installations, the temple foundations and an area with houses and artisan workshops.
Most of the artifacts can be found in the Archaeological Museum atCagliari, in the Antiquarium Arborense, the Archaeological Museum of the town ofCabras and in theBritish Museum,London.[8]
Finnish writerGöran Schildt visited and photographed Tharros on his travels in the Mediterranean Sea with his boatDaphne [sv].
A 2021Ancient DNA study by Stefania Sarno et al., found that among 14 individuals, buried in the Punic Age southern necropolis of Tharros, there were people coming fromNorth Africa and theIberian Peninsula. The modern inhabitants of Cabras andBelvì mainly cluster, instead, with the indigenous Pre-Phoenician inhabitants of the Island and with the other modern populations of Sardinia.[9]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Tharros".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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