Nora is an ancient Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 and pre-Roman town placed on a peninsula near Pula

Pula, Italy

Pula is a comune in the Province of Cagliari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 25 km southwest of Cagliari...

, near to Cagliari

Cagliari

Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...

 in Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

. According with the legend, Nora was founded by a group of Iberians

Iberians

The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...

 led by Norax

Norax

Norax was an ancient mythological hero of the Nuragic mythology. He was the son of Eriteide, daughter of Geryon , and the god Hermes. Norax appears in the writings of Pausanias, Sallust and Solinus.-Ancient sources:...

, a mythological hero son of Eriteide and the god Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

. It is believed to be the first town founded in Sardinia and to have been settled by the ancient Sherden or the Nuraghi people, however after colonization by Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

ns and a period of domination by Carthage

Carthage

Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

 the town came under Roman control after the conquest of Sardinia in 238 BC. It went into decline from the 4th century AD and appears to have been abandoned during the 8th century.

Nora was an important trading town in its time with two protected harbours, one on each side of the peninsula. Several different building styles can be seen in the excavated buildings.

Because the southern part of Sardinia is sinking into the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

, a substantial part of the former town is now under the sea. A similar fate has befallen the ancient Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

 and later Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

city of Bithia near Chia, situated not far from Nora. Bithia is now completely submerged.

A significant part of the town of Nora has not been excavated and is situated on land belonging to the Italian military.

The ruins of Nora function as an open-air museum, and the remains of the theatre is occasionally used for concerts in the summer.