Santa Maria Navarrese

Santa Maria Navarrese is  a part of Baunei, it is in the eastern coast of the island, only 10 minutes away from the airport of Tortolì- Arbatax.
The well known tourist location is named after the church built in 1052 by the princess of  Navarra, daughter of  King Garcia Sanchez V, as a thankyou to the Virgin Mary for having saved her in a shipwreck in the vicinities of  “Monti Insani” the current  Monte Santo (Holy Mountain).
Near the church there are some beautiful secular olive trees, an ancient well and a Spanish tower (built between  1785 and 1790) guarding the bay and its beaches. The beach of  Santa Maria Navarrese is located in the centre of the village, it's an enchanting  bay sheltered from the wind by some red porphyry rocks.
The entire surrounding area is full of traces that witness an intense presence of the ancient Nuraghi civilisation: there are the giants' tombs of “Santu Pedru” and “Annida”, “the Nuraghi Loppellai”, “the fortresses of "  Doladorgiu”, “Nuragheddu, Turru” and “Orgoduri, Alvu, Co' e Serra”, that also preserve the remains of the village huts and ancient megalithic burial grounds. From the modern port of  Santa Maria Navarrese, inaugurated in 1998, there are a variety of  boat excursions along the coast, visiting the extraordinary coves of Cala Goloritzè, Cala Mariolu, Spiaggia dei Gabbiani, Cala Biriola, Cala Sisine and Cala Luna.