Orgosolo the village of murales and Supramonte

In the heart of the Barbagia and in the heart of the Supramonte there is Orgosolo, Sardinian district where there are more or less four thousand inhabitants, famous in Sardinia and in Italy, but, out of the national territory, too, above all for its murales. They are the symbol of the village and together with its uncontaminated landscape represent one of the most beautiful "business card" of the whole Sardinian hinterland.

For talking about Orgosolo, the first step is explaining something about the precious murales. These splendid fragments of memory represent an out-and-out open air. In the roads of the village, almost two hundred pictures are articulated on the walls of some houses and they tell the history of the community of Orgosolo and something else. These frescos tell about big conquests, and big insurrections of Sardinian population, tell histories of daily life, political fights and wars. They make important social speeches as unemployment, drought and famine. Large-scale effort subjects, as the fight to the feminine  emancipation and of firm condemnation, as the events of Pratobello. Eventually, this stupendous good, became patrimony of everyone, because the voice of murales arrives at whoever identifies himself in the fight, in the redemption and in the right and civil protest. 

If murales represent the most important attraction of the center, the Supramonte is another big place of interest that the territory of Orgosolo can offer. With 35.000 inhabitants that are located in the districts of Orgosolo, Urzulei, Dorgali, Baunei and Oliena, the Supramonte represents an extraordinary patch of wild and uncontaminated Sardinian nature. A place with an incredible charm, composed of calcareous and calcareous-dolomite rocks, where woods alternate with sinks, rocks faces and wide valley and where the presence of man is more reduced. The Supramonte of Orgosolo is estended for almost 3.360 inhabitants. Its wild nature is almost uncontaminated. There are lots of caves, places called "tacchi" in Italian language, peaks and elevations with a vegetation that is often inaccessible and full of endemic species. The flagship of this wonderful territory is “Su Suercone”, a sink with karsic origin with an area of 18 hectares, a diameter of almost 400 meters and a depth of 200 meters, become natural monument of Sardinia.

But, the show of Supramonte is only at the beginning, because there is another extraordinary natural monument that is important to quote. In the east side, where the limit between the Supramonte of Orgosolo and that of Urzulei is articulated, there is a canyon born because of the erosive activity of the waters of Rio Flumineddu, that has a record that is unique in Europe: it is the deepest canyon in the Old Continent. It is the “Gola de Su Gorroppu”. It is characterized by rock faces that overtake a height of 400 meters with a width that varies from ten to three meters and it represents an ideal habitat for lots of birds of prey, as golden eagle, kestrel, goshawk, sparrowhawk and peregrine falcon. The bottom of the canyon is covered in big smoothed rocks and the way, that lasts almost two/three hours, marks a full immersion in the heart of Sardinia; an unmissable dive in the wildest nature of the whole Island. In the Supramonte of Orgosolo there is still an untouched patch of primary woods, characterized by the presence of holm oak, yew, holly and of other endemic plants. Last but not least important is the fauna, as the quoted species of birds, mouflon, boar, Sardinian dormouse and wildcat. In this sublime oasis, as quoted, the presence of man is minimized. From the far past, the unmistakable signs of nuragic civilization appear and they reach the top of perfection in the “Nuraghe Mereu” that stands out in the thick side of the wood and of the scrub, thanks to the white of its calcareous stone. 

Nowadays, living in the Supramonte is becoming possible, in a one of a kind way. Indeed, “The lunch with the shepherd” is the best way for penetrating in the nature and tasting the goodness of Sardinian cooking. In the beautiful folds that are lost in the mountain, (called “sos pinnettos”), shepherds prepare their lunch, composed by the most genuine typical products of that area and allow tourist to taste totally Sardinia through the palate, too. Cured meats, cheeses, roast meat, boiled sheep and something else do great shows.

Tradition joins with nature and coking. Indeed, it is possible to visit not only “sos pinnettos”, with their poor and leathery primordial essence, modest dwelling that marked and that is still marking the rhythm of the agropastoral life, but, you can participate to a beautiful ritual, too: the ancient preparation of the cheese.

Murales and Supramonte. Art and nature, but, not only. Orgosolo is land of artists and cradle of ancient traditions, too. The homeland of the tenor singing, the cornerstone of a conspicuous archeological patrimony of the nuragic and pre-nuragic epoch and location of insurrections and historic deeds. Indeed, important to remember is the pacific mass insurrection in June 1969 for the defense of the territories of Pratobello, the best grazing of Orgosolo that the Government decided to expropriate for building a military shooting range. The whole population rebelled and took the field for the defense of own territory. A gesture that, maybe, became, ideologically of all the Sardinian citizens, like murales and the Supramonte, eventually, become common patrimony, to know, live and preserve.

Here’s how Orgosolo, nowadays, is becoming an unmissable destination for who wants to spend a day out of the common and discovering one of the most uncontaminated patches of Sardinia.