Ballao

 A small town on a low plateau on a bend in the Flumendosa River, Ballao is perhaps the heir to a Roman mansio built to defend the mines in the area. The urban centre does not have any valuable buildings, but it does have numerous dwellings built using a very ancient technique: in the lower part they are made of schist stone, while the rest are made of ladiri, which are sun-baked clay and straw bricks. Along the old road to Silius, one can see the remains of the 13th century Orguglioso or Sassai castle, built by the judges of Cagliari. In the surrounding area, one can visit the disused mining site of Corti Rosas - included in the Geo-mineral Park of Sardinia, where one can look for beautiful antimonite crystals in the heaps of residue - and Funtana Coberta, a sacred Nuragic well of the oldest type.