October
GAVOI
"HOSPITALITY IN THE HEART OF BARBAGIA"
Gavoi,
whose origins date back to the year 1000, is a pastoral country village situated
on a wonderful slope immersed in the green, on a land sheltered from the wind
and characterized by the presence of many springs. Its economy is based on the
breeding of cattle , goats and swine, on the cultivation of potatoes, as well
as on the production of orbace (a type of coarse woollen fabric), bridles, horse
harness and the typical sardinian knives. Gavoi is also famous for the artisan
working of wood, for the production of furniture and settles, the weaving and
sale of woollen fabrics, the typical silvermith and goldsmith creations, the
wonderful embroidered lace, the art of filet and the tailoring of the traditional
velvet costumes. The historical centre of gavoi preserves many typical old granite
houses with nice wooden and wrought iron balconies. Remarkable is the architecture
of the late-gothic parish church of Saint Gavino (the patron of the village
who is celebrated on the 25th of october), which was built during the 16th century
with trachyte bricks. From here, if you pass through Via Cagliari and through
Via Umberto, you will reach Saint Antioco’s church (15th 
cent.),
situated in the upper part of the village, and decorated with frescos dating
back to 1701 and with numerous voting offerings of gold and silver filigree.
It is considered to be the most ancient church in the village, and this explains
the solemnity of the celebrations which take place 15 days after easter. Another
old church is the one dedicated to Saint Giovanni, whose feast takes place on
the 24th of june. The village is pleasant and welcoming; tourists can easily
notice its prosperity and cultural richness, as well as the villagers’ care
for the keeping of the traditional urban setting. All these qualities make gavoi
one of the most interesting villages in the Barbagi
a
of Ollolai. The vast territory of Gavoi is an alternation of mountains, hills,
and pasturable tablelands, such as that of Lidana. Among the most beautiful
woods let us mention those of Soroeni and Gaddoro. If you go Souther you will
find old oaks, maples, hollies, and the hawthorns of Littoleri , and finally
the big rock of Lopène (=place of pain), where human sacrifices were made in
honour of god Kronos. If you visit the plateau of Lidana, proc
eeding
towards the village of Lodine, you can admire Our Lady of Itria ‘s church, made
with granite ashlars and surrounded by a big, circular fence called cumbessias,
where the feast for the Saint takes place on the last Sunday of july, and where
traditional races can be admired. Around the sanctuary there are many Nuraghic
monuments, a stately menhir,the nuraghe of Zorzi Floris, the megalithic tomb
of Lidana, the menhirs of Fiola and Dorthenì, the dolmen and the nuraghe of
Castrulongu. Lake Gusana is one of the most beautiful artificial lakes in Sardinia;
it is surrounded by a fertile and luxuriant green area. In the omonimous valley,
situated West of the lake in a place called Sa Matta (=the tree), you will find
rock roses, arbu
tuses,
junipers, brooms and thymes. Among the fauna you can spot herons, mallards,
hawks, turtle-doves, jays, wild boars, and red foxes. Lake Gusana and the surrounding
area is very interesting also from the archaeological point of view: the lake
hides a four-arched Roman bridge called Su ponte vetzu (= the old bridge), and
in the nearbys you can visit the domus de janas (=fairy houses) of s’Iscrithola
and Perdas Fittas (=stuck stones) and the site of Santu Mikeli (= Saint Michael).
The artificial basin has changed the landscape, the weather, and the local economy:
several hotels have been built, some old sheepfolds have turned into farm holidays,
equipped campings, and riding-grounds. Here you can do excursions by trekking
and on horseback, play winter sports, tennis, and football; you can swim and
do sports fishing and canoe competitions in the lake. You also have interesting
opportunities to taste and buy the delicious foodstuffs of Gavoi, such as: hams,
the typical home-made br
ead
called pan’ e fresa, 
and
many sweets like: sos amarigos, made with almonds and honey, sos papassinos,
sos amarettos, su cohone hun sapa, sa hunfettura. You can also taste savoury
kinds of cheese like the pecorino fioresardo, during the many festivals like
the “Feast of the pecorino Fioresardo” which takes place within the “Ospitality
in the heart of Barbagia” festival (12th, 13th, 14th october). On this occasion
you can sample and buy different kinds of cheese and many other typical products
of the Sardinian gastronomy. You should not miss the Carnival of Gavoi. On Thursday
before Lent you can admire the spectacular Sortilla de Tumbarinos, when the
famous drummers of Gavoi parade through the streets of the village with their
velvet costumes. It is also worth visiting the Jocos (=toys) museum, holding
about 400 pieces which remind of the old wooden toys and musical instruments
of the Gavoi tradition.
ORANI
"CORTES APERTAS"
Orani,
lying in a green valley and surrounded by hills, an agropastoral and minerary
(less than befo
re,
though) centre with the extraction of talc and steatite, about 20 kilometres
from Nuoro, was the main town of the “curatoria” of the Dore until 1501, when
the diocese of Ottana was suppressed, and then Orani became the bishop’s summer
residence. Later, in 1617, the feud of Orani became a marquisate. The placename
“Orani”: the oldest local form derives from the Latin “Oranus”, which is the
name of a Roman large landowner who owned the “villa”, later a village. Otherwise,
the less old official word “Orani”derives from the Latin “villa”, meaning “Orano’s
estate”. The village is overlooked by Mount Gonare, a granitic mount with reefs
of marmorean limestone, whose famous cone-shaped peak rises from the plateau.
Its north-western side is covered with a rich vegetation of holm-oaks, maples,
durmasts. On the mount belonging to Sarule and Orani the Sanctuary of Our Lady
of Gona
re
rises, one of the most renowned and worshipped sanctua
ries
in Sardinia. The church was re-built in the XV century, and twice a year, on
25th March and 1st September, great popular pilgrimages take place. The Madonna’s
feast, from 5th to 8th September, is organized, on alternate years, by these
two municipalities of Barbagia. A most beautiful landscape can be admired from
the sanctuary: Nuoro and the mountains of Oliena, the coast of Orosei, the Gennargentu
mountains, the coast of Oristano, the mounts of Marghine and Goceano and many
villages of central Sardinia. Certainly, the centre of Orani deserves a visit,
owing to its artisan shops, which produce wrought iron objects, Sardinian-style
furniture of precious workmanship and its biscuit-factories with the renowned
pistocos de Orane (=Orani’s biscuits). Entering the village, one will find the
remains of the church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo, with its beautiful, but ruined,
Gothic Aragonese bell tower. In the main street, the XVI century church of Nostra
Signora d’Itria stands out, whose facade boasts the Costantino Nivola’s graffiti,
an artist from Orani, famous in the world. The feast of Sa Itria was celebrated
on the last Sunday of August, with religious services and sports races. The
town hall, where the paintings “The Shepherd” and “The Sower” by Mario Delitala
are exhibited, is in an ex Franciscan convent, in Vittorio Emanuele Square,
and, a bit further, there is the XVII century church of San Giovanni Battista,
where a pulpit carved in wood is to be found, representing the Franciscan symbol.
On leaving the village, one will find the late Neoclassic parish church of Sant’Andrea,
that holds a XVI century Sardinian polyptych representing the Madonna with the
Child, a
nd
a few frescoes by Stanislao D
essy
and the famous painter from Orani, Mario. On leaving the village, on the road
to Monte Gonare, on the right, you will find a fork leading to the little country
church of San Francesco, next to a working mine of steatite, and the waterspring
of Sos Malavidos (= the sick). Orani is renowned for the industriousness and
creativity of its inhabitants, who are busy working iron, carving wood, making
pottery and velvet (the creations of the Sardinian stylist/taylor Modolo are
renowned). Worth visiting is the Museo Nivola, opened in June 1995, situated
south-east of Orani on the hill “Su Cantaru”, where many of the artist’s works
are exhibited. Famous are also the accordion and barrel organ players from Orani;
the players used to liven up village festivals with their barrel organs’ virtuosity.
At Carnival, besides the parade of masks, there is also an exhibition of barrel
organs, with dances involving everybody in the village. In October, on 19th-20st-21nd,
the festival Cortes Apertas takes place: old courtyards are opened to the public;
the population shows its culture, presenting new books written by Oranese authors;
finest white woman’s costumes, whose bodice is enriched with precious coloured
silk-threaded embroidery, with the red-cloth bodice whose edges are multicoloured,
from orange to cyclamen, different according to the social class; besides that,
handicraft, ancient crafts, gastronomy and art.
ARITZO
"THE FESTIVAL OF THE CHESTNUTS AND HAZELNUTS"
Aritzo:
this placename derives from a Latin word and coincides with the word erìthu,
erìtzu which means both “hedgehog” and “chestnut husk”. In Sardinian, arìtzu
means
“chestnut husk”. A mountain summer resort for tourists, Aritzo is situated at
the western foot of Gennargentu, among vast oak woods, majestic chestnut-trees
and hazel groves. The presence of people in this place during the Punic-Phoenician
and Roman periods has been proved, in fact a great deal of findings were discovered
in the area of Monte Longu and Antoni Sperzì. The old town centre still preserves
the typical, low schist houses with wooden balconies and beamed roofs. In Corso
Umberto I the parish church of S. Michele Arcangelo stands out, enlarged in
the XVI century, with its Gothic-Aragonese trachyte bell tower, the paintings
by Antonio Mura and a precious XV century Cross. Walking away from the church,
one will come across an old Spanish-style XVII century building, Le carceri
di Aritzo (Aritzo’s jail), made of schist rock and chestnut wood. The jail has
a peculiar ogive subway (Sa Bovida, the vault) and was used as a high security
prison until the second postwar period. On the outskirts, in the lower part
of the village, there is the country church of S. Antonio da Padova, whose feast,
which is really heartfelt by the faithful, represents an interesting occasion
to listen to the goccios (dialect songs). It is celebrated on 13th June. In
Via Corso Umberto, worth visiting are the XVII century old country house Casa
Devilla and the Neogothic-style Castello Arangino, dating from 1917. Worth visiting
is also the Ethnographic Museum of the Popular Tradition of Barbagia, which
holds barrels, tubs, tin or zinc ice-cream machines, which are used to prepare
the deliciuos sorbet Sa Carapigna, made from snow; all tools necessary to work
in the wood, to make wax objects, nuptial carved chests, and woman’s costumes.
People, here, are busy with sheep-breeding, but they also work i
ron,
carve wood, weave wool, collect the snow in winter (in the area of Funtana Cungiada),
and keep it in special places. Every year, in mid-August, the festival of the
Carapigna takes place, so that 
people
can see how the sorbet is prepared, and taste it. On the second Sunday of August,
the feast of S. Isidoro, the farmers’ patron saint, is celebrated: there is
a costume procession, the yokes of oxen are adorned, and apples are sticked
into their horns. The horses are adorned as well, and ridden by “knights”. The
wonderful, wild horses living freely on the Gennargentu mountains can be seen
during the international rodeo taking place in September, usually on the first
fifteen days. One can also visit the birthplace of the painter Antonio Mura:
the house, with a beautiful garden, is going to be restored and turned into
a Sacred Art Museum. Almost at the end of the built-up area, one will come (entering
from viale Kennedy), to the municipal park Pastissu, endowed with tennis and
bowling courts and a couple of indoor courts. The rich and savoury gastronomy
of Aritzo includes roast pork, roast lamb and roast goatling of which everything
is eaten (for example, a few dishes are prepared from lambs’ stomachs, sa brenteredda,
besides cold meats and salami such as ham), culirgiones, filled with potatoes,
boiled sheep meat, sa coccoi cun gelda (focaccia with lard), the traditional
chestnut soup (a poor but genuine dish), pane ‘e saba (a cake made of must,
hazelnuts and raisins), is buconettos (a mixture of grinded toast hazelnuts
with honey), the famous walnut “torrone” and caschettas (a sheet of pastry with
toast hazelnuts and honey on it). The area of Aritzo is vast and varied: there
are hills, medium/high mountains (where you can ski in winter) and meadows;
among the fauna, there are wild horses, mouflons, Royal eagles, rock pipits
and red woodpeckers; among the flora, there are black alders (to be found along
rivers and watercourses), holm-oaks, hazels, broom, bramblerose. On 27th and
28th October, since 1972, the Chestnut and Hazelnut Festival takes place in
Aritzo, with a great exhibition of wood products and a variety of cakes made
with the same products. On this occasion, the village displays and sells its
works, so that people get to know and appreciate this industrious beautiful
place.
DESULO
"MOUNTAINS PRODUCE"
Desulo (“a sunny place,
sheltered from the wind”): the name coincides with the nuraghic name “desu”
and can be justified by the fact that the village 
is
situated on the northern coas
t
of a long valley, facing south and sheltered from the wind. Desulo comprises
three quarters, to be found one after the other along the valley’s coast: Asuài,
Ovolaccio and Issirìa. Situated at 886 metres, west of the Gennargentu mountains,
it is an agricultural and tourist centre immersed in green woods, among big
samples of chestnut trees, water-full valleys and secular forests. The town
centre still preserves the old building typology, consisting of small unplastered
schist-rock houses, with long wooden balconies, and cobbled lanes. The population
is busy with sheep-breeding: in the past, many of them used to sell their products
all over the island, both natural goods such as chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts,
and handycraft objects such as the renowned and savoury “torrone” (= a kind
of nougat) made from arbutus or chestnut honey, wooden spoons, chopping boards,
cowbells, and loom-made “orbace” clothes. Desulo’s gastronomic production is
very rich and genuine, its flavours come from the old local tradition: the typical
bread “pane cicci e civargiu”, ham, bacon, sausage, goat’s milk and sheep’s
milk cheese, arbutus and chestnut honey, “torrone”, the “pane ‘e saba (a cake
mad
e
of walnuts, hazelnuts, must and raisins), pabassinos, bianchinos. Let us also
mention the mushrooms, like the royal boletus, which are numerous and various
in the area, so many that a number of different dishes are prepared with them.
The vast territory of Desulo includes old woods, like the Girini wood, and a
few watersprings such as Cammos Trottos. One can practise a variety of sports
on Gennargentu: mountain bike, skiing, trekking on foot or on horseback, parapenting.
The quarter of Asuai was partially, and still is, the quarter of woodcarvers
and pedlars (selling chestnuts, wooden spoons and chopping boards). Here, the
late-Gothic church of San Sebastiano rises, where, at Corpus Domini, the solemn
procession starts (the only one that goes through the three quarters), the women
wearing bright coloured costumes: re
d
orbace and cloth, sky-blue silk, and gold yellow silk embroidery. The quarter
of Issirìa is inhabited by shepherds, cowherds, swineherds and peasants, who
work in yards, chestnut and hazel groves. Here, the XVI century church of S.
Antonio Abate is to be found, seat of the Ethnographic Museum, the church of
S. Croce and the little church og S. Maria della Neve, whose festival takes
place every year on 1st August. In the quarter of Ovolaccio, populated by shepherds
and goatherds, the church of Madonna del Carmelo, celebrated on 16th July, stands
out. The church holds a XVI century wooden statue representing S. Basilio Magno.
All handicraft everyday objects representing Desulo’s life and tradition are
displayed in the Museo Carta and the Ethnographic museum. The village is an
excellent starting point for excursions: passes and refuges can be easily reached
by driving along carriage roads, given the great naturalistic importance of
all places around Gennargentu. In order to reach Punta La Marmora two itineraries
are available. The first one: take the road to Fonni as far as the pass “S’Arcu
di Tasc
usì”
with the nearby nuraghe Ura ‘e Sole, the highest in Sardinia. Driving along
an asphalt road first, and then a dirt road, you will reach the refuge S’ Arena,
and from here, past l’Arcu de Artilai and l’Arcu Gennargentu, you will go up
to Punta La Marmora, the highest mountain of the complex, where mouflons (called
“lambs’vultures”) and other rare species are to be found. The second itinerary
starts from the quarter Asuai: one drives along the natural road to Arcu Guttudorgiu,
then, past the fork to Aritzo, one gets at cuile Meriagos, the biggest community
sheepfold of the village, consisting of branch-roofed round cabins (“pinnette”);14
kilometres further, you will proceed on foot because the road is interrupted.
After walking through the yew wood Is Aragnos and a large stony ground, you
will reach the peak. On 1st, 2nd, 3th, 4th of November, the festival La Montagna
Produce (= mountains produce) takes place, which will be the 11th this year.
During the festival, the old town centre is soon filled with people, coming
from all over the island to find mountain products: walnuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts,
mushrooms, cakes, cheese, and handicraft wooden products. La Montagna Produce
also includes exhibitions and other cultural events, which is a further reason
to visit this busy mountain centre.
