Visit Porto Flavia from the sea!
Discover guided tours of Porto Flavia from the sea; a must-see stop on Warung Boat Tours.
Rediscover these incredible places with a unique and unforgettable experience to the world’s most famous mining port, Porto Flavia.
It is a site set cira 20 meters above sea level, with the iconic inscription of its name placed above the arch of the tunnel exit door that majestically faces the Sugar Loaf stacks.
The history of Porto Flavia
Porto Flavia is one of the wonders of Sardinia.
This extraordinary monument of industrial archaeology dominates an enchanting coastline, giving visitors a breathtaking view of the thousand shades of blue of the Masua sea, and the striking Sugar Loaf stack.
A true masterpiece of engineering that improved working conditions for miners and reduced the time and cost of transporting ore.
To understand its revolutionary significance, it must be remembered that, before the construction of this port suspended between sky and sea, ore was loaded by hand on small sailing boats (called bilancelle) and transported to the port of Carloforte from where large ships distributed it around the world.
From the opening of Porto Flavia in 1924, everything changed. Ores from Masua and nearby mines were transported via an electrified narrow-gauge railway inside the cliff, then loaded from wagons into large 1,000-ton silos, dug into the.
A system of conveyor belts, built in a tunnel under the silos then allowed the minerals to be transferred to the opening to the sea, where ships were positioned on which to load the material. This was an absolutely innovative method that saved a great deal of time.
Suffice it to say that what was loaded in a month thanks to the Porto Flavia system could be loaded in a few days.
The name of the Port was given by engineer Cesare Vecelli. The designer of the work wanted to name it after his daughter. The port remained operational until the 1960s.