Many species of brightly coloured fish and aquatic plants coexist in the depths of the unpolluted blue sea. The wide river which penetrates fjord-like into the mountains flows between luxuriant gardens, dense woodland and spectacular walls of rock.

The Temo is a majestic expanse of water whose reed lined banks are home to the red and silver heron and the kingfisher. Due to the importance of its habitat this is classified as a site of outstanding beauty.

The spectacular forms of rocky crags and steep cliffs crowning serene stretches of beach have been sculpted by the strong maestrale winds. The combination of vivid colours and scents of the hillsides where shepherds are at home, remote valleys and unspoilt woods, the majestic sight of the rare wild griffin vultures, peregrine falcons and royal eagles make a visit to Bosa unforgettable.

B&B Bosa

To the north of Santa Maria Navarrese the coast gets wilder and wilder, full of big rocks looking out on the sea or emerging from the water itself.

Amongst them, you should admire the very famous Faraglione delle Pedra Longa or Agugliastra, a sort of calcareous rock that gave the name to the territory of Ogliastra. The Baunei coast connects up with the wonderful Orosei Gulf, rich in inlets and hidden caves, falaises and small beaches of indescribable beauty.

Amongst the most interesting and suggestive beaches and coves, it is possible to visit the Cala Goloritzè, dominated by the spectacular Monte Caroddi or Aguglia, an enormous 100 metre high pinnacle, and the Cala Mariolu or Ispuligidenìe (so called by the inhabitants of Baunei), with a very transparent sea and enchanting blue reflexes. You can also visit the magic Cala Luna, completely immersed in the wildest nature, with white sand and an intense blue sea.

For its general charm all tourists love the beach so much. The cove is surrounded by a calcareous falaise with six huge caves that opens up to the beach and finishes to leave some room to the valley that has generated the sandy shore. A wonderful dune of sand and shingles links the walls of the caves to the imposing Su Masongiu big rock, that is spectacular for its big stones looking out on the sea and for the the very high Punta Lastroni. Just behind the sandy dune there is a very thick oleander wood that gets pink during the summer.

The most beautiful coves

If you proceed northwards, towards the near Cala Gonone village, in the Commune of Dorgali, you can visit the spectacular Cala Fuili, surmounted by an imposing falaise, the reign of people who practise free-climbing.

In addition, you can also reach the fantastic Bue Marino Coast, the natural habitat of the last specimen of the very rare monk seal. On the contrary, if you overtake, southwards, the fascinating imposing Bue Marino Caves, and the Cala Luna, you will find the spectacular Cala Sisine, consisting of a natural rocky small arch and surrounded by a homonymous thick wood and very high rocks looking out on the sea.

Southwards, you can also visit the beautiful Cala Biriola, placed at the base of the imposing Codula di Luna massif, from which it is possible to admire a wonderful unforgettable view on the Orosei Gulf and on the Ogliastra coast, as well. The high walls on the sandy shore give the place the appeareance of a big mountain, above all because of the presence of centuries-old carob and holm-oak woods.

On the contrary, the seafloors consist of small dunes of azure and green tiny shingles. Always going southwards, you can find the beautiful Cala Mariolu, consisting of two inlets separated by a white promontory looking out on a limpid blue sea, and the amazing Cala Goloritzè, with a magnificent pinnacle that dominates the beach, the ideal place for free-climbers, from which you can admire an exclusive landscape on the gulf.

In addition, you can keep on proceeding until you arrive at the extreme top of the Capo Monte Santu, where there are two small inlets that penetrate inside the mountains and are repaired by the north wind.

Along the San Teodoro it is possible to admire wonderful landscapes, very wide beaches with white sand, solitary coves and imposing promontories looking out on the sea. Exactly to the eastern side of San Teodoro village you can reach the very beautiful and famous Cala d’Ambra, placed at the base of Lu Casteddu hill.

It is a small beach, frequented above all by the tourists who want to find a nice peaceful place. Near the beach there are numerous hotels, restaurants and spots where you can spend some thoughtless evenings.

If you run across the provincial street to Porto Ottiolu, southwards, you will reach the nice Isuledda, an amazing beach with white thin sand and a green-azure water, placed near a very small pond. A marvellous green cortin and a big sheer surround the beach, sheltering it from the waves and the impetuous winds that very often blow during the year.

The Marine Park of Tavolara - Capo Coda Cavallo ends quite near the Isuledda promontory. It is not difficult to reach the beach: in fact, it is necessary to run across a dirt road surrounded by a thick Mediterranean bush that starts from the promontory and ends to the sea-shore. A little to the south of the Isuledda there are the wonderful Li Marini and Segafusti beaches, very closed to Porto Ottiolu. In short, the coast is very rich in coves and promontories with solitary cosy beaches, where you can find relax and peacefulness far from the crowd, all gathered in the largest beaches.

To the north of San Teodoro village, another suggestive road flanked with villas and hotels takes to the fantastic La Cinta beach, the most frequented one by tourists. You can reach it running through Via del Tirreno and Via Gramsci, two of the most important roads of the village. When you arrive at the beach, about 5 Km long, you can admire its thin white sand and the thick forests of junipers, lentisks, rosemaries and savins that surround and separate it from the lagune waters.

The water is transparent and ideal to have a swim and to play nice water sports. Besides, La Cinta offers some interesting environmental spectacles to people who like having nice walks: from the lagune shore that connects with the sea it is possible to admire the different kind of birds which live in the pond, as flamingoes, cormorans, sea-gulls, ducks and herons. La Cinta beach spreads northwards until the Punta Aldia coast and Lu Impostu, another interesting beach.

The road that leads to Punta Aldia, about 1,5 km long, is asphalted and it is placed near Lu Fraili suburb. The Lu Impostu marine looks out on a marvellous view with the amazing Tavolara island in the background. On the left side of the road you can see the Brandinchi pond, also well-known as Catranzolu.The Lu Impostu marine waters are particularly limpid and coloured and for this reason all tourists and inhabitants adore them.

The houses of the near small village were built in the ’60s and some of them belong to very important TV stars. If you go straight on, you can reach the Punta Aldia village and tourist harbour, surely one of the most suggestive tourist resorts of the area around San Teodoro.

In the village there are numerous hotels, campsites, sports fields, swimming pools and a wonderful golf course, particularly attended by famous people. Also its harbour is equipped: in fact, it meets all the rich customers’ requirements and takes in numerous luxurious yachts coming from all over the world.

From the harbour itself it is possible to admire a fantastic landscape on the near Tavolara and Molara islands.
Northwards, it is possible to visit also the beautiful Brandinchi beach, placed between the Punta Sabatino and Capo Codacavallo, well-repaired by the winds. From this beach, on october 17th 1867, Giuseppe Garibaldi, after escaping from Caprera, embarked for Piombino to free Rome.

Amongst the most interesting coastal areas, you should also visit the marvellous Capo Codacavallo promontory, surely one of the most beautiful places in the island. It is about 8 Km far from San Teodoro and you can reach it running across the State Street 125 (S.S.125) towards the Lutturai resort.

After some kilometres, on your right, you should enter a small asphalted road, about 4 km long, that takes to the top of the promontory. The promontory itself abounds in quite large coves, it looks out on the sea and dominates the coast from Capo Figari, in the north, to Capo Comino, in the south.

The small peninsula consists of a wide extension of green hills with pinewoods and a thick Mediterranean bush that spread until its extreme point. This one is well known as Coda di Lu Forru (in the shape of a horse tail), and it is placed in front of a wonderful view of the Molara island.

In the northern part of the territory around San Teodoro it is also possible to see the wide Monte Pedrosu promontory, 48 m. high and surrounded by some tourist villages. From the base of its northern side you can admire the wonderful Cala Ghjlgolu, a beach with transparent water and golden sand. It looks out on a view of Tavolara and is surrounded by beautiful Mediterranean style villas built among granite rocks and a thick bush.

Near the cove, you can visit the small Ghjlgolu pond, the natural environment where herons, ducks and cormorans live. The cove is not only an appreciated tourist resort, but above all a very interesting environmental area that abounds in gorges, cliffs that look out on the sea and imposing pink granite rocks of the Paleozoic Era. If you have a walk, southwards, you can reach a solitary small cove where it is possible to admire the very famous Turtle’s rock, so called for its particular shape of a turtle and today a natural monument.

Unfortunately, lately some silly disrespectful vandals have damaged the rock, cutting its head and depriving it of its original appearance. Anyway, if you go a little straight on, you will meet another zoomorphic big rock looking like a cock and well-known as Gallo di Gallura.

The Bronze Age (1800 – 900 B.C. and the Iron Age (900 B.C.) were will known and identifiable in the objects and utensils of the Nauraghic people, even though a first and consistent exploitation of the mining resources of the Island were firstly carried out by the Phoenicians, a middle-eastern population, who, around the year 1000B.C., used Sardinia as a support point on the course towards the Iberian peninsula and , later, when they discovered the resources hidden underground, began to mine these and export lead and silver.

The Carthaginians also exploited the rich mining resources but we must wait for the Roman dominion for a massive exploitation of these resources. During this period important centres developed some of which took the names from the metals mined in that area, for example Ferraria near Sinnai or Plumbea ( Sant’Antioco today), and especially Metalla (most probably situated near Antioco and Arbus) proved to be a natural mint.

In the year 466 A.D. the Germanic population of the Vandals ended the Roman dominion on the Island and later in the Mediterranean basin. The new invaders exploited only the coastal areas and the fertile agricultural areas of Sardinia but, even though they levied heavy taxes on those areas they controlled, they tolerated the religion of the people they found there and they gave pieces of land to those who possessed nothing behind the promise that these lands would be cultivated by the new “owners”.

Such a lack of interest of the central uneven and mountainous regions leads to think that the Vandals did not exploit any of the mining resources offered. One arrives at the same conclusion when looking at the Byzantine dominion of the Island. However it seems improbable that such a rich resources be ignored for more that five hundred years.

During the independent Judiciary period, Cagliari formed an alliance with the Pisans who were the promoters of the first great mining “season”. They created “Villa di Chiesa” ( Iglesias of today) where they built a mint, leaving the mining activity to the local people and single owners of the resource areas or to those companies already working in these places.

The Pisans were present in the foundry when they operated the revenue activities. The metal extracted was silver, which was separated from the mineral Galen which is very rich in silver, and this was used to coin money and, in a greater part, it was sent to foreign markets. Sardinia was second only to Boemia then in Europe, showing a potentiality which, unfortunately, was never exploited during the years to follow.

The Spanish dominion, from XV century, slacked the entrepreneurial sense of their predecessors, and even though there were many privileges for anyone asking for mining concessions, the spirit of free initiative which co-existed previously was now totally lacking. The Spanish has monopolized every extractive activity for the mint requirements, and much was done to re-launch this sector of the economy around the first half of 1600’s: But in a moment when things looked as if they were about to change , the Plague and the famine that followed gave a mighty blow to life on the Island and it was a fatal blow to the mining activities.

When the Savoy arrived in Sardinia they gave new stimuli to this field and even though the first results were modest, they are to be considered as important hotbeds which re-lit the souls of those who believed in the possibilities of the mining activity in Sardinia. During this important prologue an imposing foundry was built near Villacidro, new mining galleries were opened at Montevecchio and Monteponi later to become the mining “capitals” of Sardinia. At the same time new technology gave its help in the digs towards better extractive methods and re-elaboration of the minerals.

However the technological progress alone would not be enough to rehabilitate a sector which, in the previous centuries, had been drastically sunk. In 1831 Francesco Mameli was nominated General Director of the Mines of the Royal Patrimony. He established a series of interventions aimed at contrasting the causes which blocked the desired re-launching of the mining industry.

The important points of his report underlined the lack of professional miners and also the non-existence of an adequate set of rules operating in this industrial field. The orders which followed gave a new lease of life to the entrepreneurs, the final push arrived after the “Perfect Fusion” (see: The History) which extended the new legislative rules of the Piedmonte Mines (1840) to all of Sardinia, after which investors from all over Europe started to show interest in the Island.

The most important concessions were those of Montevecchio (Guspini) and Monteponi (Iglesias) alongside which grew new roads, homes, civil and industrial structures: In those years the first Sardinian railway was laid and the port of Carloforte became a fundamental hub for transporting minerals. In 1871 the Right Hon. Quintino Sella declared that it was necessary to open and professional school to prepare people for this sector and he indicated Iglesias as the site for this school, and he made it become the seat of the Mining Headquarters which up to then had always been in Cagliari.

The area of Sulcis and Iglesiente was never so important as it was in those years. What had been an arid land started to transform very quickly following technological progress and the dynamics of the financial markets , and in a short space of time from those house of branches and reeds came forth advanced urban centres.

Along with the highs and the lows the mining activity surpassed the economical crisis that hit Europe towards the end of the XX century, the First World War and the financial crisis of Wall Street in 1929 along with the years of the “Great Depression”. All of this thanks also to the strong determination of the miners who wanted their work to continue whatever the sacrifice requested of them – even pay reductions. The coming of the Fascist rule and the autarky policy of the Regime gave place to an extraordinary increase of the production in this field.

The plants were modernised and more houses and recreational centre were built. In 1938 the apex was reached with the foundation of a real city Carbonia. Coal from Carbonia in fact substituted that of foreign countries which no longer arrived in Italy after its invasion of Ethiopia. The declaration of war and Italy’s entry in 1940 extinguished whatsoever dream of glory and all the activities were converted for war purposes.

Once again depression like that which preceded the First World War shrouded the lives of the miners. The Sardinian Mining line started its unhappy decline. During the post-war years many of the veins so well exploited before were exhausted and an evermore petrol-dependent society brought the mining sector to an irreversible crisis.

The mint activity has not been closed completely but what is operating today seems like the ghost of a glorious past. The importance and the uniqueness of the phenomenon of the mining event in the Island has made the UNESCO decree it as the first geo-mineral park of the World.

If you want to visit Caprera island, you should overcome the Moneta Quarter and reach the Moneta Passage, a panoramic bridge that connects the two islands. It is possible to arrive at Caprera island running across the suggestive pinewood that takes directly to the Garibaldi Compendium, with Giuseppe Garibaldi’s white house. In fact, the Hero of the Two Worlds decided to settle in Caprera in 1856, after purchasing the field where he had his house built. Nowdays, his house is one of the most visited museums in Italy.

The conducted visit begins at the stall, where there’s the steam engine, used to thresh and to plough; beside it there’s the iron house, a prefabricated small English building.

Just inside the white house, it is possible to distinguish the entrance-hall and the Hero’s double room. In front of it there’s Manlio and Clelia’s room, occupied by the Hero’s daughter until 1959, when she was 92 years old and died.

The kitchen has a water pump, a sink and an oven, whereas in the dining room it is possible to admire some Garibaldi’s showcases, shrines and other objects. Inside his study there are lots of portraits, his desk and his orthopedic wheelchair, which the Queen Margherita of Savoy gave him as a present. In addition, in front of the white house it is possible to see the Hero’s Bust and a windmill, situated in front of the museum entrance.

An amazing coast with enchanting beaches

The Caprera island is very famous for its landscape and environment, such as its natural reserve, ecologically one of the most beautiful places of the Mediterranean and an integral part of the Archipelago National Park, founded in 1996. Along a narrow path that runs across the whole island, it is possible to visit the panoramic tops of Teialone mountain and Poggio Stefano, respectively 212 and 198 metres high, made of pink granite.

A further path takes to Cala Coticcio, one of the smallest caves in the island and easily reachable by sea. Nowdays the place has been rebaptized with the well-known exotic name of Tahiti. If the beach is full of people, it is possible to keep on walking until Cala Brigantina, a very tight fiord situated below the imposing Teialone mountain.

Southwards in the island, another tight path takes to Punta Rossa, where there are the fantastic beaches of Cala Portese and Cala Andreani, in the Due Mari area, so called for the presence of a natural isthmus that separates the island from Sardinia.

On the west-side coast of Caprera, near the ex-military Stagnali suburb, there are the Caprera Reserve forest barracks, whereas southwards it is possible to admire the landscape of Porto Palma and the small island Il Porco.

Also the north-western coast of Caprera is full of interesting lonely corners. Anyway, they are reachable by sea because of the presence of an impassable path. Just in the south of Punta Galera there are Cala Napoletana and Cala Caprarese, a sandy deep inlet surrounded by granites and by a thriving bush. Beside it there are Cala Serena and the Italian Islands, near Cala Garibaldi, a particularly crowded resort for the presence of holiday villages.

The Ogliastra is surely one of the most beautiful and suggestive areas in Sardinia. It is a various territory where you can admire both its impassable and fascinating mountains of the Gennargentu massif and and extraordinary coast full of wonderful coves and beaches. The territory looks like a huge amphitheatre looking out on the Tyrrenian Sea and it is bounded by the Supramonte and the river Codula di Luna, in the north, and by the tabular mountains of Jerzu and the hills of the Salto di Quirra, in the south.

The area is 1.848 Kmq wide and consists of plains and dizzy mountains that make tha view very suggestive. All tourists love the unforgettable landscapes of the Ogliastra mountains and sea; in fact, some of them prefer spending their holidays in the total peacefulness of the mountains, whereas others adore sunbathing under the warm sun of amazing beaches.

The coast consists of a series of high rectilinear cliffs, wide inlets without dockings and low and sandy seafloors, whereas the inland is very rich in large woods of holm-oaks, chestnuts, yews, oaks, millenarian olive-trees and marine pines.

The woods themselves are a safe environment for lots of animals, such as fallow-deers, deers, moufflons, wild boars, hares, rabbits, patridges and quails, as well. Also the rivers and the sea are full of different kind of fish: in the rivers it is possible to fish some trouts and carps, whereas the sea is full of lobsters, gilthead breams, groupers, polyps, sargoes, basses and others.

The geological origin of Ogliastra belongs to the ancient Mesozoic and Jurassic Eras (about 155 millions years ago); its land is rich in minerals, volcanic rocks and particular cliffs of red porphyry, unique in the world. Thanks to its environmental features and, obviously, to the presence of the equipped harbour of Arbatax and the small airport of Tortolì, the area has been visited by lots of tourists for years.

Every year thousands of visitors disembark in Sardinia to visit the most rappresentative sites of the area and to know their traditions, uses, customs and above all two different economic realities: the pastoral one of the mountains, and the agricultural one of the coast, that takes advantage of a good climate for all the products of the land, mild in the winter and hot in the summer.

The accomodation facilities of the area are very important for the development of tourism, and they are increasing and improving year by year. In fact, all tourists have the possibility to find accomodation in a large number of interesting and cheap hotels and residences. In short, the Ogliastra is the ideal place for people who want to spend some original holidays inside the beauties of nature, a corner of paradise placed on the eastern coast of Sardinia.

The prenuragical and nuragical Ogliastra

The traces of the first human settlements in Ogliastra go back to the Neolithic Era and they have been found inside the caves of the Supramonte di Baunei. Anyway, the prehistorical men used to live along the coast and in the coves, eating vegetables, game and fish. But the continuous piratical raids forced them to move inwards and to give birth to the first mountain towns where they began to practise the agriculture and the sheep-rearing.

Some important finds of the area testify the pagan worship of some pre-nuragical populations. They are tools of different kinds, various size amphoras and arrows points, as well. In addition, the Ogliastra is particularly rich in Nuraghi, amazing and suggestive forts, and in Tombe dei Giganti, very interesting burials that testify the presence of a large number of people in the area.

The nuraghe is a very well-known Sardinian symbol. It is actually the most representative monument that recalls its millenary history. Its construction is particularly impressive: it was built by the dry-stone tecnique, without any cohesive material, and it can reach about 20 metres of height. So, it seems unbelievable that they have survived completely up to our times. They represent a real prehistoric architectural jewel and document the high developmental level reached by the bronze civilisation.

From the Roman conquest to the contemporary age

During the VII century B.C. the Phoenicians, the Punics and, later, the Romans invaded the territory and left some traces of their settlements along the coast. After the Sardinian conquest of the Pisans, in 1323 the island was occupied by the Aragonese, who built numerous coastal towers and country churches, nowdays still intact.

In the XII century Sardinia was divided in judicatory areas and the Ogliastra belonged to the one of Cagliari. Only at the beginning of the XIII century the Pisans, before being expelled from the island by the Aragonese, made the Ogliastra an indipendent judicatory area.

Anyway, for centuries the Ogliastra history was not different from the one of Sardinia in general, until the Piedmontese conquered the island and began to destroy the original thick woods of the area.

During the milleniums, the various populations who settled down in Sardinia always took possession of its treasures, its woods and its sea. In change they received something, the malaria and the plague, two terrible illnesses that forced all of them to leave the island and that strengthened the character and proud of the local inhabitants.