An unbreakable bond deeply links the inhabitants of Sant'Antioco to the Villaggio Ipogeo, a place that symbolises an important part of the town's history.
Unique in its kind, the village was created through the reuse of ancient underground Punic tombs (excavated between the 6th and 3rd centuries B.C.), modified and furnished by the poorest members of society as dwellings. From the second half of the 18th century, nuclei of people, who had previously left the island to take refuge in the safer hinterland of Sulcis, were attracted by the land concessions promised to repopulate the island after decades of raids by Saracen pirates.
Upon entering one of these rooms, you will be immersed in an evocative atmosphere and breathe in the humble and simple life of the time thanks to the furniture, crockery and objects used daily by the locals.
For this reason, the inhabitants of Sant'Antioco are still today accompanied by the appellation 'gruttaius' (cave dwellers,) precisely to emphasise this not too distant period that marked such a particular piece of history.
