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An ancient Mediterranean necropolis described as one of the world's greatest historical sites is being submerged beneath cement, high rise housing and rubbish dumps, according to Italian conservationists.

Tuvixeddu - which means “hills with small cavities” in the Sardinian dialect - contains thousands of Phoenician and Punic burial chambers from the 6th century BC.

It has long been robbed of funerary objects but some of its tombs have retained their original paintings, including “Ureo's Tomb”, named after a sacred serpent, and “The Warrior's Tomb”, in which a decoration depicts a warrior throwing a spear.

The Sardinian government claims that, despite the site's importance, municipal authorities have allowed builders to encroach on the site to the point where “one of the most precious heritages of makind is under threat”.

Regional officials said yesterday that they were taking the Cagliari town council to court for issuing permits for the construction of 50 six-storey blocks of flats on the very edge of the necropolis. Building work has been halted pending a ruling next week.

The council insisted that its plan included not only housing but also the creation of an “archaeological park”, as well as a museum in a former cement works. Maria Paola Morittu, of the heritage organisation Italia Nostra, said, though, that it would further alter an ancient landscape which had already suffered greatly.

Campaigners said that the plan involved not only housing, which would obliterate ancient tombs, but also a dual carriageway access road. La Repubblica said this would mean that Tuvixeddu would become just another traffic island in Cagliari.

Renato Soru, the Governor of Sardinia, has called for the protection of the site. The Cagliari concil said, though, that it was obliged to respect the agreements made with developers. A spokesman said allowing the flats to be built was the only way to raise enough money to protect the site and build the new museum and archaeological park.

Vincenzo Santoni, a former superintendent for archaeology in Cagliari, said that no significant finds had made at the site recently. Several dozen more tombs had been found, he added, but were all within the protected area and therefore not at risk from building work.