November
FROM GUSPINI TO MONTEVECCHIO
Situated i
n
the northwestern area of the province of Cagliari, Guspini can easily be reached
both from Cagliari, driving along the SS 131 road and turning just before Sanluri,
and from Oristano, driving along the Carlo Felice road and turning on the outskirts
of Marrubiu. Situated on a favourable site, the territory of Guspini was inhabited
by man since the oldest times. In the Guspini countryside, at “Perdas Longas”,
one finds two menhirs representing the Mother Goddess, called “Sa Sennoredda”
(= the young lady), and the “Dio Toro” (= Bull God), dating back to the 4th-3rd
millennium B.C. In the former, 260 cm high, the shape of a woman with prominent
breast and hips stands out; the latter, 180 cm high and next to the former,
represents the phallus, which was identified by prehistorical people with the
Bull God. In order to reach this place one should drive along the SS 129 road
linking Guspini to S. Nicolò Arcidano, and turn into a local road at 95.800
km. More traces of the pre-nuraghic period are the “domus de janas” (= fairy
ho
uses)
of Brunku Sa Grutta, Nureci and Monte Santa Margherita. There are also 45 “nuraghi”
more or less, dating back to the nuraghic civilization period: the most important
ones are the Nuraghe Melas, S’Aurecci and Brunk’e S’Orku. The Nuraghe Melas
lies next to the road SS 126 to Terralba, at 100 km. Originally, it consisted
of seven towers linked one another by fortified walls but, at present, only
one tower, six metres high and nine metres wide, is left. The tower has an inside
stair leading to an inaccessible terrace. The nuraghic fortress of S’Aurecci
lies on a promontory west of Nuraghe Melas; it has four towers, partially entire,
linked together by a boundary wall surrounding an egg-shaped village. Dating
back to 535 B. C., the fortress was patronized by the Carthaginians and the
Romans, who used it as an outpost by virtue of its proximity to the mining area
of Montevecchio. Halfway between the two nuraghi lies that of Brunk’e S’Orku,
which can be reached driving along the road S.P. to Sant’Antonio of Santadi.
This complex, dating back to 1200-900 B. C., is composed of six cyclopean towers,
five small ones and one in the middle. In the 6th century B. C. the Carthaginians
started coming to these places, founding the town of Neapolis on the edge of
the pond of San Giovanni, on a previous nuraghic settlement dating back to the
3rd millennium B. C. After driving out the Carthaginians, in 238 B. C., the
Romans settled in Neapolis which became a very wealthy town. Near its centre
was the road linking Tibulas with Sulcis, whereas in the central part were the
Great Thermae, of which a rectangular room with a barrel vault is left. During
the Middle Age up to the 18th century the Great Thermae were used as a place
of worship devoted to the Virgin of S. Maria de Nabui. Another building, called
“Piccole Terme” (= small thermae) is divided into two parts: the warm and the
cold room. The cold room consists of two baths, whereas the warm room includes
five small saunas heated up by the hot water flowing under the floor and in
the wall hollow spaces. On the outskirts of the town there is a Roman necropolis
with three kinds of tomb: rectangular limestone 
sarcofagi;
tiled tombs with jutting edges and double-layered covering; masonry pit-tombs
with tiled covering. When the Roman Empire collapsed, this area was the scene
of dramatic barbarian raids. Neapolis was left towards safer, inland places:
Bangius, Urradili and Guspini. In the 14th century, Guspini became the capital
of the Bonorzuli “curatoria”, in the “Giudicato” (= kingdom)
of Arborea. As soon as the Piemontese finally settled in the island, mining
work started again at a fast rate, so much that, in 1847, the mines of this
area distinguished themselves by their output and organization. In the nineties
the mines declined and finally closed down: among these, the largest mining
area in the Guspini region, Montevecchio. Along the road S. Maria lies the old
church of S. Maria di Malta, which was modified over the centuries. Originally,
the church must have had an outlying building: the monastery belonging to the
Order of the Knights of Malta. On the square XX Settembre, on top of a flight
of steps, stands the parish church of S. Nicolò, built in the first decades
of the 17th century. Originally, the church had two naves. Then, in 1800, it
was turned into the present building with eight naves and aisles, the sacristy
and the high altar. The facade has a wonderful Gothic rose window and a bell
tower dating back to the 17th century. Inside, one can find a marble high altar
(18th century), three marble statues (early 20th century), wooden sculptures
and splendid antiques. Around the fifth decade of the 17th century, the premises
of the old church of San Sebastiano were used as a Monte Granatico house. The
building must have
been an Aragonese fortress in the past, since there is a tower and several pieces
of masonry. In the middle of the village, near the Zeppara hill, one will admire
a natural monument: basalt pillars called “Canne d’Organo” (= organ pipes),
which is a rock formation raised by a volcanic eruption three million years
ago, whose faces are 4 to 20 metres high. Along the provincial road leading
to S. Antonio di Santadi one will come to a 3 km. detour to 
the
Parco Comunale of Gentilis. This park, whose naturalistic value is remarkable,
is rich in cork-oaks and holm-oaks and preserves a green mediterranean maquis.
On the road to Marina di Arbus, Mount Arcuentu stands out, majestic, with its
extraordinary basalt outcrops. It is the ideal shelter for wild boars, foxes,
martens, wild cats and the rare Sardinian stag; the Bonelli eagle, the Royal
eagle and other birds of prey, too, were seen over there. On the slopes of the
mount one will find a rich flora of shrubs and aromatic herbs such as helycrysum,
thymelaea, thyme, mountain lilies and rosemary. The visit of Guspini and its
surroundings ends up in Montevecchio, where one will “dive” into the history
and life of the mining sites and the miners who worked there facing and finding
death at times. Situated about 9 km. from Guspini, in the Gennas Serapis area,
Montevecchio has about 4900 inhabitants today, but in its prosperous past it
was peopled by 3000 inhabitants. The most striking structure here is the neoclassic
Headquarters Building with the valuable Liberty frieze of the arcade and the
wonderful ceremony hall on the second floor. Worth mentioning are two buildings
dating back to 1870 housing the post office and the hospital (both today and
in the past). It is also possible to visit the mining sites and their yards,
a showroom of minerals and the exhibition on mineral civilization, so that one
will “breathe” both the pure air of the mountains and the atmosphere of history.
SANLURI
THE FESTIVAL OF SAN MARTINO
The
street that houses the festivals celebrating the battle of El Alamein is named
after a little church, dating back to the Giudicati-Pisan period, built in 1200
in honour of S. Martin. In 1500 it was restored, brought into use again, and
completed with an “arcade”. It is believed that these works were made to invoke
the help of the Saint against the horrific effects of the plague. For centuries
the church was the destination of devotees (who asked the Saint for their animals’
recovery) and wayfarers and beggars finding shelter in “Su Stabi de Santu Matì”
(the arcade of San Martino), all of them being generous to the poor and loving
to animals, in the same way as the Saint had been during his life. At the end
of the seventies, owing to bad weather and the Vandals, the church was all in
ruins. The devotion to the Saint and the will to bring out a possession belonging
to the artistic, historical and cultural heritage of the village (a possession
which is also linked to the memory and tradition of its inhabitants) drove a
group of villagers, gathered in a committee, to start a challenging work that,
after twenty years of patient work with the help of villagers, local authorities,
Pro Loco and the parish prie
st,
brought the church and the arcade (only two stone columns had been left of them)
back to their previous magnificence. They had nothing when they started but
they got a lot in the end: building materials, money and assistance were offered.
In order to collect money, they organized a festival (it was 1980/81), so that,
according to the proverb “SEDDORESU PAPPA FA” (= a Sanluri villager will eat
broad beans) saying that a Sanluri villager will always eat a lot of broad beans,
every year, around the 11th of November (the day which celebrates the Saint)
at the week-end, the festival is repeated, the 21st this year. They cook broad
beans and “malloreddus” according to the local recipe; one can taste a number
of sweets and cakes, prepared by the committee with great care and much work;
everybody will celebrate when the traditional “Fogadoni de Santu Matì” (= the
bonfire of S. Martin) is lit up. It is a big bonfire burning just in front of
the church. Here, everybody drinks, eats and enjoys himself, trying to meet
or remember in a couple of days the flavour of the past, in the atmosphere of
a simple local feast. The restoration work, made according the instructions
of the Sovrintendenza alle Belle Arti (= Monuments and Fine Arts Office) and
the advice of architects and restorers, has almost come to an end. Doors are
going to be replaced, and it will be necessary to recover, maintain and protect
the wall stones.
LURAS
THE YOUR HISTORY AND THE TERRITORY
Whoever
makes an excursion to Upper Gallura, expecting to find shady valleys on the
slopes of Limbara, is bound to go across the Luras territory. The great number
of granitic hills shaped by the mistral would make one remind of mountain landscapes,
but for the typical mild climate of hilly areas one will find there. In the
valleys, cork-plantations alternate with pastures; there are large vineyards,
as well, on the plains and on the sunniest ridges. The relationship between
this land and its inhabitants is 
still
very close and it is linked to the agropastoral way of life. The adaptation
of life and work to modern times has not undermined the passion of these people
for their traditional activities, which are still carefully carried out. For
this reason all the local wines keep unchanged the smell of the land, even though
the most famous varieties, Nebbiolo, Vermentino and Moscato, are now exported
and appreciated on the continent too, thanks to the passionate work of the “Confraternita
Nebiolo di Luras” which promotes the local wine gastronomy. The unconspicuous
look of the village is misleading since Luras guards its treasures, with loving
care, in the interiors. While walking down the narrow medieval streets of the
historic centre, one is struck by the simple architectural lines embellished
with original details. Wrought iron railings, capitals, granite or hand-made
portals and door jambs: these masterpieces require a great deal of patience.
A three-floor building, an unpretentious house with a typical granite front
as like as any other Gallura house, in this area where stone, too, has its own
history, houses the Ethnographic Museum GALLURAS, “fragments of the Gallura
civilization”. Besides being the first and only ethnographic museum in Gallura,
the building shows an exact reconstruction of typical Gallura settings between
the late 1600 and the first half of our century: vine-growing/wine-making; agriculture/sheep-farming;
weaving; cork manufacture; family house with dining-room, 
kitchen
and bedroom. Everything was reconstructed according to the old Gallura house
structure and balance: details, reproduced with great care, seem to be real
and vital. Such is the exactness of the reconstruction that many old people
are struck and moved by the sight of those settings where they really lived
in the past. These objects are linked to work, events, words and feelings. The
GALLURA museum is open at any time on appointments (0368 3376321) and has its
own
Internet web site:http://web.mountain.net/~rhott/museo/
The parish church as well, devoted to Our Lady of the Rosary, owes much to the
stone-cutters’ work. The austere granite facade anticipates the simplest lines
of the three inner naves, and the atmosphere of silent concentration is increased
by the soft, unreal light coming through the windows above and leaving the place
in a quiet semi-darkness. The evidence of a deep faith, the churches of Santa
Croce, Purgatorio and San Pietro (which is perhaps the most beautiful) are smaller
but remarkable all the same. The shy and kind spirit of the village is evident
in most of its inhabitants too, who are both open-minded and attached to their
own tradition. This is evident in the preservation of the Logudoro dialect,
which was not suppressed in spite of the Gallura dialect imported by the Corsicans.
Of particular interest for tourists are the DOLMENS, which are collective tombs
dating back to the late Neolithic (Ozieri civilization, 3800-2900 A. D.). The
most important one is the Ladas dolmen, which has the second largest covering
slab in the Mediterranean and stands on a granitic ground with large outcrops
of flat rocks. Five hundred metres further stands the Ciuledda dolmen, situated
on a small valley and having natural rain drains so that the burial space could
be kept dry. 
The
Billella dolmen stands on a cultivated field and the difference of level on
the surface between the dolmen walls is 70 cm. This peculiarity is not to be
seen in any other dolmen. The Alzoledda dolmen is the simplest of the four ones
existing in the territory and it is a fine example of the simplicity of style
of this kind of architecture. The monument stands eastside of a low granitic
outcrop, lying on a natural concavity of the rock. These monuments, together
with a number of nuraghic remains, show that the site is very old, but it is
difficult to date their origins exactly. The first documents where VILLA LAURAS
(the original placename, a Roman name perhaps, of the village) is mentioned,
are to be found in a series of Pisan papers dating from 1300. Anyway, it is
likely that the village already existed in former times, even since the nuraghic
era. In the 16th century the plagues that affected the area drove the inhabitants
of neighbour settlements to take refuge in the present village. Only a few inaccessible
ruins are left of the village standing near SILONIS (this too is an original
placename), as well as an unusual concentration of small churches within a range
of 1 kilometre or little more: San Leonardo, Madonna delle Grazie and San Pietro.
The latter is the most interesting one in spite of the fact that it is in ruins.One
more village lay near the present artificial basin of Liscia, in the area of
Carana, another old name. Besides the unusual landscape created by the dam,
there is a real marvel of nature not to be missed, just in front of the lake.
Near the country church of Santu Baltolu, Santu Nigola and Sant’Iglianu a short
lane comes into the mediterranean maquis out into a field with a huge majestic
centuries-old oleaster (Olea europea L.), the oldest tree in Italy (4000 years
old). Not far, another smaller tree makes a fine show. In the same area, a number
of lentisk shrubs could reach, over the centuries, the size of a tree. More
pearls in a Sardinian worth-exploring spot.
