Gallura - The interior
The interior of Gallura is a rugged, sweeping landscape whose ubiquitous feature is granite, the rock which dominates both the geology and the scenery of this part of the island, with its woods, plateaus and mountain peaks. The more immediate attractions of the Gallura coast in no way diminish the appeal of its interior, a place largely uncontaminated by progress and the perfect place for a holiday in Sardinia at its most authentic.
Historic capital of Gallura is Tempio Pausania, built on a spur of the Limbara massif. Tempio was first inhabited in the Nuraghe period. It later fell under the domination of the Romans, who called it Gemellae.
The town’s most impressive monuments are concentrated around Piazza Gallura and Piazza della Cattedrale: these include the town hall, the cathedral of San Pietro, the church of Santa Croce and the Oratorio del Rosario. Just outside the town is a spring, the Rinaggiu; and on the road to Luogosanto is the impressive stone fortress of nuraghe Maiore.
One particularly interesting excursion in this area is to Monte Limbara via the Vallicciola road: the peaks of Punta Balistreri (1359 metres) and Punta Sa Berritta (1362 metres) offer panoramic views of the snow-topped peaks of Corsica to the north, Anglona to the west, Logudoro to the south, and Olbia and the Costa Smeralda to the east. The scenery of the Limbara massif is everywhere studded with granite outcrops, often eroded into weird and unusual shapes. Large expanses of holm oak can still be found here, as well as strawberry trees, mastic shrubs and heather. The fauna, despite severe depletion in the 1930s and successive decades, remains rich and varied, with falcons, sparrowhawks, mouflons, foxes and wildcats.
The village of Luras, not far from Tempio, offers excursions to the lake of Liscia, a large inland body of water fed by the rivers Piatu and Carana and enclosed by scrub-clad mountains. This lake is the habitat of many bird species, such as grebes, mallards, tufted ducks, and the more common seagull; other local fauna includes boar, partridge, hare and fox.
Berchidda is a small town just to the south of the Limbara massif. It’s famous for the production of Vermentino, one of Sardinia’s most renowned wines. To the west of the town stands a hill with the ruins of the once-important medieval castle of Monte Acuto. Excursions are available to the state-owned forest complex of the southern Limbara, not far from which, to the south, is the artificial lake of Coghinas.
Other sights worth seeing in the Gallura interior include the village of Alà dei Sardi, which has the distinction of being the only inhabited centre in what’s otherwise a vast wilderness of holm oak, sycamore and Mediterranean scrub. It looks, and feels, incredibly remote. Buddusò lies between the Gallura and Barbagia, in a region with numerous granite caves. Granite also predominates as the local building stone, as most houses in the town attest. Near Buddusò is the important Nuraghe fortress of Loelle.
Historic capital of Gallura is Tempio Pausania, built on a spur of the Limbara massif. Tempio was first inhabited in the Nuraghe period. It later fell under the domination of the Romans, who called it Gemellae.
The town’s most impressive monuments are concentrated around Piazza Gallura and Piazza della Cattedrale: these include the town hall, the cathedral of San Pietro, the church of Santa Croce and the Oratorio del Rosario. Just outside the town is a spring, the Rinaggiu; and on the road to Luogosanto is the impressive stone fortress of nuraghe Maiore.
One particularly interesting excursion in this area is to Monte Limbara via the Vallicciola road: the peaks of Punta Balistreri (1359 metres) and Punta Sa Berritta (1362 metres) offer panoramic views of the snow-topped peaks of Corsica to the north, Anglona to the west, Logudoro to the south, and Olbia and the Costa Smeralda to the east. The scenery of the Limbara massif is everywhere studded with granite outcrops, often eroded into weird and unusual shapes. Large expanses of holm oak can still be found here, as well as strawberry trees, mastic shrubs and heather. The fauna, despite severe depletion in the 1930s and successive decades, remains rich and varied, with falcons, sparrowhawks, mouflons, foxes and wildcats.
The village of Luras, not far from Tempio, offers excursions to the lake of Liscia, a large inland body of water fed by the rivers Piatu and Carana and enclosed by scrub-clad mountains. This lake is the habitat of many bird species, such as grebes, mallards, tufted ducks, and the more common seagull; other local fauna includes boar, partridge, hare and fox.
Berchidda is a small town just to the south of the Limbara massif. It’s famous for the production of Vermentino, one of Sardinia’s most renowned wines. To the west of the town stands a hill with the ruins of the once-important medieval castle of Monte Acuto. Excursions are available to the state-owned forest complex of the southern Limbara, not far from which, to the south, is the artificial lake of Coghinas.
Other sights worth seeing in the Gallura interior include the village of Alà dei Sardi, which has the distinction of being the only inhabited centre in what’s otherwise a vast wilderness of holm oak, sycamore and Mediterranean scrub. It looks, and feels, incredibly remote. Buddusò lies between the Gallura and Barbagia, in a region with numerous granite caves. Granite also predominates as the local building stone, as most houses in the town attest. Near Buddusò is the important Nuraghe fortress of Loelle.
