The sport centre ArchiMete Sardegna is located in the heart of the Regional Natural Park of Porto Conte, a natural protected area of great value created in 1999. The park covers an area of 5,350 hectares in the territory under the Municipality of Alghero, and presents very varied and unique landscapes. The coastal area is located between Capo Caccia on the western side and Punta Giglio on the eastern side; and is characterized by wide cliff ridges, which fall off into the sea; alternating with less steep stretches of rocks. Instead, the cape hinterland is dominated by soft and small hills where wild animals can often be spotted: from wild boars to deer; from fallow deer to weasels; including hedgehogs and the white donkeys of the Asinara, which can be seen within the state owned forest “Arca di Noè” (Noah’s Ark) at Le Prigionette, a few hundred metres far from the tourist centre ArchiMete Sardegna.
A few kilometres further north is the Baratz lake, the only natural lake of Sardinia and privileged destination of hiking, biking and riding tours, which passes through the area of Porto Ferro. Extending for half a kilometre, it is a real natural outdoor laboratory, thanks to the presence of several species of flora and fauna. On the lake’s shore the flourishing maquis include Cistus, wild rosemary, myrtle, lavender, and strawberry plants; and among the bushes, it’s easy to spot birds like the coot and the wild duck, while tortoises peep out a few inches from the surface of freshwater.
Another reservoir of great naturalistic and historic interest, is the pond of Calich, on the western side of Alghero, near Fertilia. The pond is inside the area of the regional park of Porto Conte and represents an ecosystem for different plants and faunal species. The Roman bridge stands out, and is, along with the Roman villa of Sant’Imbenia, one of the few ruins left of the Imperial Age.
We must go back about 6000 years, to the Neolithic age, to get an idea of the history of the Alghero territory. The area is full of stunning historical and archeological finds, dating back to the Prenuragic and Nuragic ages, like the hypogean necropolises of Santu Pedru (Saint Peter) and Anghelu Ruju (Red Angel, or rather the Devil), as well as the Nuragic villages of Palmavera and Sant’Imbenia; all places which are easily reachable from the tourist centre, ArchiMete Sardegna. Specifically, in Sant’Imbenia, during the Ninth century B.C., Phoenicians established an important commercial port by exploiting the natural shelter of the inlet of Porto Conte and the presence of freshwater springs.

Il Parco naturale regionale di Porto Conte e l’Area Marina protetta di Capo Caccia e Isola Piana sono scrigni di biodiversità sia dal punto di vista floristico che faunistico. Inverni miti ed estati secche, condizioni climatiche tipiche della Sardegna, hanno favorito la diffusione di endemismi di enorme interesse naturalistico.

E tutto è alla portata di mano –anzi, di macchina fotografica!– di studiosi e appassionati di botanica e biologia.

Gli oltre cinquemila ettari di superficie del Parco regionale sono habitat naturale per straordinarie specie vegetali endemiche. In particolare in due aree di grande interesse, come Capo Caccia e Punta Giglio, dove la geomorfologia del territorio –prevalentemente carsico, con pochi centimetri di sedimento e terra tipicamente rossa– ha permesso il diffondersi di arbusti bassi ed erbe cespugliose: tra questi spiccano per importanza la Centaurea horrida (il fiordaliso spinoso, endemico della Sardegna settentrionale) e il Limonium nymphaeum, paleoendemismo noto come statice delle ninfe.

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