Porto Flavia, Sulcis-Iglesiente, Sardinia, Italy 14 May 2025

Porto Flavia, Sulcis-Iglesiente, Sardinia, Italy

Most ports rely on docks and cranes that extend into the shoreline. Porto Flavia in the Sulcis-Iglesiente region, however, took a completely different approach. This engineering marvel transformed a cliff into a gateway for Sardinia"s ore industry. Mining in Sulcis-Iglesiente has a history dating back thousands of years, from the Phoenicians and Romans to the industrial boom in the 20th century. Lead, zinc, coal, sulphur, barium and silver were extracted from these rugged hills but transporting them was a logistical nightmare. Ore had to be hauled by cart, loaded onto small boats and then transferred to larger ships—a slow, costly and inefficient process.

© Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Happy Mothers Day!
Holding back the tide
14 May 2024Carlsbad Caverns National Park

More Desktop Wallpapers:

11 Nov 2024Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
Just a couple of know-it-owls
Misty mountain hop
The envy of postcards and snowglobes
Ludlow aglow
23 Oct 2023Corn maze in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
9 Mar 2024Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico, USA
23 Feb 2026Great white egret, Upper Bavaria, Germany
A rocky wrinkle in time
3 Feb 2025Ribblehead Viaduct, North Yorkshire, England
Happy 70th to the North York Moors
22 Sep 2023Hobbit Day
26 Feb 2024Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada
7 Jan 2024Great Staple Tor, Dartmoor National Park
8 Oct 2025World Octopus Day
23 Jul 2024Methoni Castle, Messinia, Greece
Staying in the loop
24 Aug 2025Notting Hill Carnival
27 Oct 2024British Summer Time ends
18 Jul 2025Staghorn coral in shallow ocean
A bridge that holds up history
15 Feb 2026World Whale Day
6 Jul 2025Tour de France
We’ve identified these ‘flying objects’
Let’s have a lek, see?
31 Oct 2024Happy Halloween!
Spanning the soft sunlight
22 Jan 2025Ad-Deir, Petra, Jordan
4 Feb 2024Devetashka Cave, Devetaki, Bulgaria
24 Mar 2026Cherry blossoms at East Lake Cherry Blossom Park, Wuhan, China