The Barumini Museum Network

A guide to the Polo Museale Casa Zapata and the Centro Giovanni Lilliu, the two cultural centers included in your Su Nuraxi admission ticket.

The unified ticket for Su Nuraxi di Barumini connects three distinct locations: the main archaeological park, the Polo Museale Casa Zapata, and the Centro Giovanni Lilliu. This network encourages visitors to explore the historical and cultural contexts of the Marmilla region. The system assists in protecting the main ruins because it distributes visitor foot traffic. Exploring the museums is essential to understand the excavations led by Giovanni Lilliu.

Polo Museale Casa Zapata

Polo Museale Casa Zapata is located in the town center of Barumini. The museum is housed in a 16th-century noble residence constructed by the Zapata family, a Spanish aristocratic dynasty that governed the region. During restoration work in the 1990s, architects discovered that the palace had been built directly over the ruins of an older, large nuraghe, named Nuraghe Su Nuraxi 'e Cresia.

To preserve both the Renaissance palace and the Bronze Age ruins, builders installed suspended glass-paneled floors. Visitors walk through the noble rooms while looking down at the massive stone walls, central keep, and courtyards of the prehistoric complex below. The museum also contains a collection of Nuragic artifacts, regional administrative archives, and historical documents detailing the Zapata family's administration of Marmilla.

The architecture of Casa Zapata combines Spanish Gothic and Renaissance styles. The stone portals, arched windows, and wide courtyards reflect the wealth of the Spanish administrators. The integration of the prehistoric ruins beneath the palace floors creates a unique spatial experience. Visitors can stand in the grand reception hall of the Spanish barons and view through the glass at the dry stone walls of the Bronze Age warriors. This demonstrates the layers of history in the town.

Centro Giovanni Lilliu

The Centro Giovanni Lilliu is a modern cultural center located near the main archaeological park. Named in honor of Barumini-born archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, the center is an educational facility. It has detailed galleries dedicated to the history of Sardinian excavations and displays regional artwork and crafts.

A key attraction is the collection of physical scale models of Su Nuraxi. These three-dimensional reconstructions show the complex at different points in history. This helps visitors visualize the additions made to the central keep over the centuries. The center also holds the annual slow travel cultural tourism expo in early November. This displays local food specialties, honey, and handmade textiles.

The exhibition spaces at the Centro Giovanni Lilliu are designed to be accessible. The galleries utilize large text panels, clear lighting, and tactile elements for visually impaired visitors. The center includes a conference hall, a research library containing Lilliu's original publications, and a restoration laboratory where archaeologists process artifacts from nearby excavations. The archives contain hundreds of photographs from the 1950s digs. This documents the physical effort of clearing the soil from the stone bastion.

Visitor Planning and Ticket Coordination

Access to both museums is included in the standard unified admission ticket (priced at €15.00 adults / €12.00 youth / €9.00 children). Visitors do not need to buy separate tickets. Guided tours of the museum galleries are included. To get the most out of your visit, plan to spend at least one hour at Casa Zapata and 45 minutes at the Giovanni Lilliu Centre.

The museums are situated in the town center, a 15-minute walk or 2-minute drive from the main ruins of Su Nuraxi. If you travel independently, you should visit the Giovanni Lilliu Centre first. This helps you understand the architecture of the towers before exploring the physical ruins. This order of visit helps clarify the layout of the circular village and the central bastion.

Special Scheduling Notices

For visitors planning trips in June 2026, take note of administrative schedule changes. On June 17, 25, and 26, 2026, the Centro Giovanni Lilliu will operate on limited hours and opening only from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Su Nuraxi and Casa Zapata are unaffected and will remain open during their regular all-day hours. Check the official notices before planning your itinerary.

The Zapata Dynasty and Spanish Influence

The Zapata family arrived in Sardinia in 1323 alongside the forces of the Crown of Aragon. In 1541, they acquired the fiefdom of Barumini, Las Plassas, and Villanovafranca. The family decided to build their noble palace, Polo Museale Casa Zapata, in the late 16th century. They selected a site directly on top of a soil mound, unaware that it hid a prehistoric fortress. The construction utilized the ancient nuraghe walls as foundations. This preserved them beneath the palace floor. Today, the suspended glass walkways allow visitors to inspect these prehistoric walls directly beneath the Spanish noble architecture.

At the Centro Giovanni Lilliu, visitors can study the extensive miniature models of the excavations. During the 1950s, Lilliu's team created detailed scale models of the fortress to document the complex layers of stone walls. These models are built of wood and plaster. This replicated the precise dimensions of the mastio and bastion. They serve as valuable educational tools. These models help researchers visualize the sequential additions made to the fortress from 1500 BC to the Carthaginian damage.

Additionally, the exhibition halls display archaeological artifacts recovered from the excavations. These collections include bronze tools, clay cooking vessels, and stone oil lamps used by the ancient inhabitants. Visitors can walk through the archival rooms to view original excavation logs, historic photographs from the 1950s, and archaeological maps detailing the stratigraphy of the site, which yields an in-depth understanding of the Nuragic excavation history.