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December

GONNOSFANADIGA
THE 13th OIL, AGRIBUSINESS AND LOCAL TRADE EXHIBITION

This year too, from the 3rd to the 5th of December, the 13th Oil, Agribusiness and Local Trade Exhibition, organised by the the Pro Loco and the municipal authorities, is going to take place in Gonnosfanadiga. This festival has become by now one of the most important fairs taking place in the Guspinese, Villacidrese and Medio Campidano areas. During these three days, the pleasant Guspinese village of Gonnosfanadiga fills with visitors coming both from neighbour and distant villages, everybody wishing either to taste genuine agriculture products or to buy the local handicraft. Gonnosfanadiga is famous for the production of its extra vergine olive oil (which is renowned for its small percentage of acidity) as well as for its bread, sausage and ham. As for the handicraft, jack knives are most appreciated. Situated in a luxuriant area rich in olive trees and self-vegetation, on the slopes of the north-eastern side of Mount Linas, Gonnosfanadiga is easily reachable from every part of Sardinia if you turn at the fork to San Gavino, either nearby Sardara or Sanluri on the SS 131 Carlo Felice. The splendid communal park of Per’e Pibera, a few kilometres from the village, is the most beautiful one in Sardinia. The territory of Gonnosfanadiga was inhabited by man ever since the nuraghic and Roman period: an evidence of that are the remains of the foundry of Is Mongias. During the giudicale period it belonged to the “giudici” of Arborea, “curatoria” of Bonorzoli. The traditional houses made of granite and schist rock are of two different types: one type of house has the main building at the end of the yard, with arcades and storerooms on the two sides of it. The other one, overlooking the street, is not always provided with a yard. Characteristic are also the granite round or square wells one will find at the crossroads. These wells are still used nowadays to get drinkable water. The valuable church of Santa Barbara dates back to the XIV century and was largely modified in the XVI and XVII century. West of the village lies the country church of Santa Severa, surrounded by a typical arcade. Around the middle of the XVIII century many country churches of the Sulcis-Iglesiente, Santa Severa included, were reduced to ruins. Consequently, a bishop’s edict ordained their demolition. The inhabitants of Gonnosfanadiga though rebelled (peacefully) against the edict and quickly restored the church. Nearby, there are numerous archaeological findings: several nuraghi; a nine-grooved pre-nuraghic menhir, at Struvina de Moru Orta; and the Tomb of Giants “Grutta de Santu Giuanni”, where a great deal of pottery was found.

SAMASSI
THE ARTICHOKE FESTIVAL

Samassi is a rural village situated in the middle of the Campidano plain, between Cagliari and Oristano, and it is easily reachable if you come from the north and turn at the fork to Villasanta, at Km 41 of SS 131 Carlo Felice road. If you come from the south, turn at Serrenti, on the same four-lane road. In the high zone of the village there is the nice little church of S. Gemiliano, a Romanesque building dating back to the second half of the XIII century, whose decorations herald the Gothic style and whose layout is very narrow and long. The church is made of beautiful polychromatic stones and ornamented with pilasters and small arches. The main portal is ornamented with two old-style rough little heads, whereas the one-nave interior keeps the original mausoleum of Don Giacomo of Castelvy, knight of S. Giacomo: a work, dating from 1586, made by Scipione Aprile from Lugano, who worked in Sardinia for several decades. The mausoleum is similar to other Italo-Spanish works of the early Renaissance. The parich church, largely restored and re-made, still preserves the Gothic portal. Artichoke growing is an old tradition in Sardinia. It is the most common vegetable here, and it is mostly produced around the Samassi territory. Both the Spinoso Sardo (= Sardinian thorny artichoke) and the “Masedu” (which is thornless) are produced both to be exported onto the Continent and to be preserved in oil. They are kept on the market for a long period, from October to March-April. On Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th December, the 13th Artichoke Festival and the Second Medio Campidano Agribusiness Fair are going to take place in Samassi. The festival aimes at promoting one of the best agriculture products of Samassi, the artichoke precisely, as well as advertising the agriculture products of the surrounding territory. During the festival, on Sunday at 9 o’clock, the 22nd Artichoke Marathon Walk is going to take place. This is a national country walk competition, and national and international champions will be present. The Festival is going to begin on Saturday afternoon, with a conference on artichoke growing and a visit to the exhibition pavilions at the Coop. Agr. “La Collettiva”.The following day one will be allowed to taste the artichokes cooked in many different ways, and enjoy a number of non-stop fitness, music and dance performances in the afternoon.

ARBOREA

THE POLENTA FESTIVAL

During the time when Arborea was called “Mussolina” the built-up area of the town was characterized by a number of buildings whose architectural style marked that particular historical period. The plain where the built-up area is situated belonged once to the commune of Terralba and partly to that of Marrubiu. At the height of the 1915-1918 war, a few groups of banks and companies were trying to start profit-bearing investments in the country areas. On the 23rd of December 1918 in Milan, in the office of the notary Federico Guasti, the Banca Commerciale Italiana, the engineer Giulio Dolcetta, the accountant Giuseppe Menada and Prof. Ferdinando Adamoli founded the Società Bonifiche Sarde (= Sardinia Reclamation Companies), for the hydraulic and agrarian reclamation of Sardinian land. On the 13th of December 1918 the town council of Terralba decided to lease out the communal uncultivated land to the engineer Dolcetta and the company (which was still to be established). The reclamation “pioneers” found out 13 thousand hectares of impenetrable woodland, peopled by 12 herdsmen and dotted with 208 fens bordering on the Mediterranean Sea and the pond of Sassu. It was the ‘Twenties then, whereas the first families of sharecroppers arrived and settled in Arborea after 1928. Workmen, farmers, craftsmen and a great number of people whose political ideas were unacceptable to the regime, so that they were banished to Sardinia. Meanwhile, the work continued, with much difficulty. On the 28th of October 1928 the reclamation area was named “Mussolinia di Sardegna” (= Mussolinia of Sardinia), whereas on the 29th of December 1930 the built-up area became an autonomous commune and, on the 17th of February 1944, the name “Mussolinia” was replaced by that of “Arborea”. Finally, in 1946 the first town council was elected. This year, on the 5th of December, the 17th Polenta Festival is going to take place. The polenta feast celebrates the “birth” of polenta as well as that of Pro Loco, established in 1982. After all, on this land inhabited by people from Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Friuli, when it took place, for the first time, in Novembre 1982 in the area of Luri, with polenta, “osei” and sausage, polenta was naturally a meeting occasion. The event gathered thousands of people, so the Pro Loco decided to put the festival into the calendar of promotional initiatives. The story of the polenta of Arborea is only a little one, but it is meaningful both for the number of the people it gathers (the people involved in the organization of the festival as well) and because the event is part of the cultural initiatives promoting Arborea, its territory, its economy and its production. Together with the “osei” one will find sausages, stew and dried salted cod.