February
SORSO
The name “Sorso” has undergon
e
several changes and transformations: josso and zorso became finally Sorso or
Sosso. The name refers to the position of the village, which 
was
situated farther down than the settlement of Sennori. The name “Sorso” first
appears in the “Condaghe di Silki” (XI-XIII century).During the period of the
Giudicati (X-XIV century), Sorso fell under the rule of the Comune di Sassari,
which had become an independent republic. In the same period, a special, extraordinary
event took place. On the 26th of May 1208 the Madonna appeared to a dumb man.
The man was asked to tell his fellows to go and fetch Her. Back in the village,
the dumb man was able to speak again, so that he could report the Virgin’s words.
All the people rushed into the beach (where the apparition had taken place)
where they found a statue of the Virgin and the Child, which was placed in the
original Church of S. Pantal
eo.
In the morning of the following day the Virgin was gone. A few days later, She
was found standing on a wild olive tree.Religious fervour led the believers
to go on praying and take (in procession) the sacred image to the church. But
the following day the Virgin was gone again. She was found on an olive tree,
although this time She bore an inscription: noli me tollere (= do not take me
away). According to the Virgin’s will, the people built a sanctuary where, up
till now, several rituals are celebrated in Her honour. During these celebrations,
the people also want to express their gratitude for the miracles which occurred
since Her apparition. The sanctuary is situated a few kilometres from Sorso,
between the village and the sea.Sorso is situated in a favourable position for
agriculture: the weather is mild and the streams make the soil fertile. The
people from Sorso preferred agriculture rather than fishing, despite the abundance
of good fish in the large neighbouring pond of Platamona, whose name is of Byzantine
origin. Today, the area is a natural reserve extending side by side with the
coast, whose conformation, in the past, gave rise to the forming of fens, which
helped in spreading malaria. Shortly after the Fifties, the area of Marina di
Sorso was subject to property speculation in order to develop tourism. Tourism
is favoured by the numerous beauties of Sorso: worth mentioning are its 17 kilometres
of coast with clearest water and extraordinary depths. Beside these attractions,
Sorso houses an aquatic park and occasional international fishing competitions.
DOMUS DE MARIA
Situated
at about 50 Kilometre
s
far from Cagliari, along the road n° 195 to Teulada, Domus de Maria is famous
for its beaches near Chia and its woody inland. Thanks to the archaeological
sites of “Sa Domu de S’Orcu” and “Sa Grutta de Orbai”, situated under the rock
of Montemaria, it is possible to trace the human presence in this area back
to the III millennium before Christ; however, we think that the area near the
sea was already inhabited before that age. In 1930, a heavy sea-storm swept
away the coast of Chia, bringing to light an old necropolis, which the archaeologist
Taramelli identified as a part of the old Punic-Roman town of Bithia. Thanks
to the excavations it was possible to reconstruct the topography of the town:
the main buildings were situated on the hillside, now surmounted by the shore
tower, while the necropolis extended along the beach. The remains of two buildings
with porticoes have been discovered as well as a sanctuary with an enclosure
and a sacral niche. Next to the altar, the archaeologist discovered a 80 cm
tall sandstone statue representing the god Bes, greeting with his right arm
and wearing a crown of feathers and the chastity belt. At the 44th Km, not far
from Domus de Maria, there is a loop road which leads to the panoramic drive
of “Costa del Sud” (Southern Coast) and then joins again th
e
mainroad after Teulada. Costa del Sud extends beyond the picturesque headland
of Torre di Chia” (The Tower of Chia) and the ruins of Bithia, between the steep
cliff of Cape Spartivento and the harbour of Teulada; it is characterised by
a number of wonderful beaches, small bays and coves. After leaving the houses
of Chia on the right side, you will reach the fork and the road that leads to
the small headland, characterised by the seventeenth-century well-preserved
tower of Chia. At the base of the tower, towards the mainland, the are the ruins
of Bithia. Once back to the junction, keep on going along the coast and the
pond, towards the beaches of Chia,”Porto Campana”, “Su Sali” and “Cala Cipolla”.
Going eastwards, you will find a wild and pure environment, overlooked by Cape
Spartivento and its lighthouse. After a small saddle, you will enjoy the view
of the beautiful
bay of “Porto Malfatano”, surrounded by the homonymous cape and facing the small
island of Tuerredda. In the town of Domus de Maria, there is “Casa Museo” a
museum with two important collections: a coin collection, including more than
600 coins dating back to the various ages and a collection of minerals, with
some very important samples of the various areas of the region. In the mountains
of Domus de Maria, in the park of “Is Cannoneris”, you will see the Sardinian
deer, the fallow deer and the wild boars; these animals live in a natural environment,
made up of holm-oaks, arbutus and heath. During the summer, a number of festivals
are organised in Chia, such as the festival of figs, of fish and of the wild
boar; there is also the Fisherman’s festival, as well as arts and crafts exhibitions,
tasting of typical dishes and food and shows where bread, cheese and sweets
are prepared.
ARBUS
ITS TERRITORY
On the south-west coast
of Sardinia, nestled on the hills, Arbus, with its 267 square kilometers of
territory, has one of the 
most
vast districts in the island. The area is very aeterogeneous, with landscape
characteristics which vary mainly geom
orfological,
in its vegetation and anthropicaly. The primary landscape feature thet emerges
is certainly the beautiful strech of coast that covers over 50 Km. One meets,
long golden sandy beaches giant sand dunes couvered with majestic secular junipers
and magnificent cliffs. An authentic paradise on earth which has conserved its
fascination intact for thousands of years. Not less interesting is its hinterland,
in the vulcanic massif of Arcuentu with its harsh and wild forms ancient lava
flows have formed giant walls of square and smooth stones. On the highest part
of Arcuentu, used since medieval times as a look outpost in the defence of the
territory, a primary holm oak wood
survives dominating a really suggestive panorama. Equally rich and interesting
is the fauna that lives in this territory. There are numerous examples present
of the elegant Sardinian Deer (around 550 according to the count in ’96 by the
ELAFOS Association) once found thrughout Sardinia and Corsica, now only survive
in the wild in other two areas. 
Amongst
the birds one can spot, amongst others, the golden eagle, the rare Bonelli Eagle,
the Peregrine Falcon and the various coloured Sardinian Partridge. The wild
boar is numerous everywhere and on the sandy coastline, proving the integrity
of this natural landscape, nests the marine tortoise (with certainty up to a
few years back), a species threatened with extinction at a global level. The
flora is that of the typical mediterrenian scrub, with its intense perfume and
in infinite tunes of green that in spring time are tinted with the blue azure
of the rosemary and of yellow in the wild broom. From the anthropical point
of view, the territory is characterized by the secular presence of mining activity
that have now stuped working, having left notable witness of industrial archeology
constituting together with the natural landscape around a rare and highly suggestive
scene.
