The tradition is that this was the first city in the island, and they say that Norax was a son of Erytheia, the daughter of Geryon, with Hermes for his father.

According to the Ravenna Cosmography, after the Arab conquest of Carthage in 698 the city lost its economic function and became a simple fort (Nora praesidium).

[9] Its toponym, however, remained in the name of a curadoria (main administrative division) of Judicatus of Caralis at the beginning of the second millennium.

Nora was an important trading town in its time, with two protected harbours, one on each side of the peninsula.

The ancient ruins of Nora include an open-air museum and the remains of a theatre, occasionally used for concerts in the summer.