Porto Flavia, Sardinia, Italy May 14, 2025

Porto Flavia, Sardinia, Italy

Most ports rely on docks and cranes that extend into the shoreline. Porto Flavia on the Italian island of Sardinia took a completely different approach. This engineering marvel transformed a cliff into a gateway for Sardinia"s ore industry. Mining in the area has a history dating back thousands of years, from the Phoenicians and Romans to the industrial boom in the 20th century. Lead, zinc, coal, sulfur, 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.

© Francesco Riccardo Iacomino/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

May 14, 2018Celebrating Bike to Work Week, May 14-18
May 14, 2019Cannes, France, in the spotlight
May 14, 2020Green fields of grain
May 14, 2021A misty morning in Brazil
May 14, 2022Windmills in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands
May 14, 2023Happy Mothers Day!
May 14, 2024Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 7, 2022Heceta Head Light, Florence, Oregon
Dec 13, 2023Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Apr 10, 2025Siblings Day
May 26, 2018Honoring the first American woman in space
Apr 15, 2023World Art Day
Feb 4, 2021Where is this wintry road?
Aug 31, 2025Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska
Dec 19, 2023Castle Square, Old Town, Warsaw, Poland
Sep 2, 2020A rock in a wild place
May 28, 2021Freeloaders of the avian world
Sep 5, 20242024 Toronto International Film Festival
Oct 19, 2025Apples ready for harvest in Minnesota
Nov 25, 2020A dying breed of tree thrives in an American park
Jun 13, 2021Bear watching in the Finnish forest
Feb 13, 2021Four little birds sitting in a tree…
Apr 1, 2025National Frog Month
Jun 23, 2025The Elbe in Dresden, Germany
Aug 25, 2019A desert arts pop-up, just popped up
Jan 8, 2019A stunning national park in winter white
Jun 14, 2020Celebrating Flag Day
Jun 4, 2024Chestnut-headed bee-eaters, Bardia National Park, Nepal
Jul 31, 2025Ring-tailed lemur
Aug 14, 2023World Lizard Day
Oct 14, 2018Gone ‘lightseeing’ in Berlin
Feb 8, 2021A hero for the 21st century
Feb 12, 2025Celebrating Charles Darwin
May 28, 2018Honoring the fallen
Jun 25, 2020Hoisting a flag for seafarers
Jul 8, 2023Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Arkansas
Aug 4, 2020Into the woods