From Funtana Coperta to Gonnesa (D-513)
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Starting from Funtana Coperta, which in the mid-19th century housed the first semi-mechanical ore processing plant in the Iglesiente area, built by engineer Giulio Keller and entrepreneur Angelo Nobilioni, you can immediately observe from above the fascinating coexistence of old and modern roads, the San Giorgio stream with an ancient bridge, and two railways: the private railway of the Monteponi mining company (which, with a level crossing with a still standing guardhouse, crosses the Pellegrini tunnel and reaches the nearby Pozzo Baccarini mine shaft, easily reached from Trail 315) and the public FMS railway, which you will follow in a south-westerly direction, crossing first a beautiful four-arched bridge and then a railway tunnel (both built between 1923 and 1926). The density of infrastructure present in this area will give you a good idea of the intense activity that animated these places in 100 years of mining epic between 1850 and 1950.
Once past the tunnel, you will come to the intermediate point represented by the ruins of Cantoniera No. 49 (one of the 55 buildings that served to guard and maintain the old railway network). Each Cantoniera housed one or two families and had a water well and a bread oven.
At this point you will intersect, heading south, Trail 515 leading to the Normann Village. Continuing along Trail 513, you will see ruins of mining buildings as well as military structures, namely a series of casemates and anti-tank barriers dating back to World War II. They will take you back to the times when a British secret service operation tricked the Italian-German axis into believing that the Allies were planning to land in Sardinia.
After a few km, you will arrive in Gonnesa near the sports field from where you can reach the town center with a few minutes’ walk.
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