Fertilia is a frazione (hamlet) in the municipality of Alghero.

It is 5 km from Inghirios. The town of Fertilia was founded in 1936 as part of the vast programme of land reclamation of the Nurra area. The beach of Fertilia, dominated by the fret-worked bell tower of the Parish Church of San Marco, is covered by spotless fine white sand, lapped by an extraordinarily limpid sea. Just like the neighbouring beach of Maria Pia, it is formed of bands of dunes that separate the sea from the Càlic lagoon, a 97 metre-wide expanse of water, home to many fascinating species of birds such as flamingos.

This is the marine portion of the huge Porto Conte park ecosystem, added in 2002. The protected area of Capo Caccia-Piana Island falls within the territory of Alghero and includes Porto Conte bay and the stretch from Punta Giglio to Capo Caccia: a priceless natural heritage, embellished by the fossil-rich limestone and rare plants growing on the cliffs. Inghirios is located in the contiguous area of the Park.

To reach the rocky spur that is Capo Caccia, take the coastal route from Alghero. You will pass first through Fertilia before starting to snake your way round the coast road (signposted as ‘SP127/bis’). You can savor wonderful views over the bay of Porto Conte as you cover the 24km coastal tract of this long natural promontory. If you prefer to make the trip on foot, it will take you around 3 hours starting from the village of Tramariglio. Rising 168m in a southerly direction, the Capo Caccia promontory closes off the deep cove of Porto Conte to the west. This is without doubt one of the most interesting parts of Sardinia in terms of natural history, since not only is it endowed with an immense diversity of flora and fauna, it also plays host to a labyrinth of fascinating underwater caves. The complex geology of the area – along with the traces of human life found here, which date back 12,000 years – makes this an essential part of any trip to the island. The name of the promontory is probably derived from the large number of hunts that were organized here due to the flocks of wild pigeons that would congregate on the outcrop.

Underneath the spur of Capo Caccia there lies the Grotta di Nettuno (Neptune’s Cave). To reach it, take the footpath from the top down the panoramic ‘Escala del Cabirol’ (Goat’s Staircase) with its 656 steps. Alternatively, to visit Capo Caccia by boat, take a trip from Alghero (1 hour away) or, closer still, from Cala Dragunara. The boat trip has the advantage of allowing you to experience the beauty of the MPA from the sea itself. In the boat, you come across the rocks of Capo Galera and Punta Giglio before Punta del Capo Caccia looms into view. You disembark right at the cave mouth, located at the base of the soaring cliff of Capo Caccia, directly in front of the island of Foradada. The path inside the cave is around 580 meters in length. The first section of the cave is home to Lake Lamarmora and its exceptionally clear waters.

Facing Capo Caccia, the Punta Giglio (Punta del Lliri in Catalan language) promontory encompasses the water of the bay of Porto Conte, preserving intact all of its beauty. The enchanting paths that make their way through the area allow you to go off exploring on foot or by mountain bike through the vegetation of the imposing limestone environment. Indeed, Punta Giglio offers a full 5 trails that lead to the edge of the sheer cliffs. Here, sculpted into the rock, you will find traces of the plinths of anti-aircraft guns and a characteristic barracks dating from the Second World War.

The architecture of their construction testifies to the extraordinary skills of the fascinating and mysterious Nuragic civilisation. The Palmavera complex is located on the promontory of the same name, one and a half kilometre from the sea, within the Porto Conte Park, very close to Inghirios. Built with blocks of limestone and sand, consisting of a central body with two towers and a bulwark, plus the huts of a village: today there are less than 50, but experts estimate that number to have ranged between 150 and 200 when the village was inhabited.The village was later destroyed by a fire and repopulated during the Punic and Roman era. Around Palmavera there is a track you can face on your mountain bike to go on a journey through time. In the Porto Conte bay – Portus Nympharum for the Romans – you can visit another Nuragic site: Sant’Imbenia (15th-8th century BC), the oldest Phoenician maritime stop on the island, where trade was done with the East. It remained in the core of commercial routes for Phoenicians, Etruscans and Greeks up to the 7th century. Not too far are the remains of a Roman villa, built for the otium – leisure – of the owner, with estates all around it. It consists of decorated rooms and service areas. To the north are the remains of a thermal bath area.

Discovered in 1903, the hypogea necropolis of Anghelu Ruju is located in the Alghero hinterland, very close to Inghirios, in a fertile plain crossed by the Rio Filibertu. The sepulchral area occupies two zones, in which tombs are distributed irregularly. Within the valley are 38 graves dug into the sandstone, dating back to 3200-2800 BC, in which even the stone picks used to excavate them were found. There are seven in the first flatter zone and 31 in the second, on a small hill.

The sepulture Domus de Janas (meaning “House of the Fairies” or “Witch’s House”) have two access types: a rather narrow ‘well-type’, from which an irregular layout and curvilinear cellae extend, the other a dromos, being with an open-air corridor, sometimes of quite large dimensions, equipped with steps at the entrance. In this case, the hypogea layout is regular and the cellae have a straight profile. The Domus are decorated with reliefs connected to the cult of the dead: carved into the walls and pillars are protomes and taurine horns, which represent the deity that was to protect eternal sleep. The etching of false doors, rather, symbolises entry into the afterlife. Of note in some parts is the presence of red ochre, a representation of the blood of sacrifice and of regeneration after death.

The prevailing ‘Neolithic’ funeral rite was burial, but cases of semi-cremation were also detected. The artefacts found in the area - vases, statuettes of the Mother Goddess and parts of necklaces - permit a dating of the necropolis, used over a long span of time (1500 years), from the Neolithic period through to the Early Bronze Age (1800 BC). The necropolis of Anghelu Ruju is the greatest prehistoric sepulchral example in the whole of northern Sardinia.