Orgosolo

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Orgosolo is in the heart of Barbagia and situated in a valley at the foot of Supramonte's mountain range, surrounded by a fascinating and charming, natural landscape and dominated by a wild, unpolluted nature. This scenery is of rare beauty, characterised by a mixture of mountains, valleys, plains, unexplored caves, canyons forged by the Cedrino river and woods of ilex, oaks and junipers.
We recommend an excursion in this mountain's woods covering over 6500 hectares.

You can visit the ruins of an old, little church on a calcareous hilltop called Mount Novo S.Giovanni. This church celebrated S. Juvanne 'e sos sordadeddonos. The Supramonte mountain range, with its wonderful Gennargentu hilltops, also deserves a visit.
Orgosolo is mainly known for its wall paintings (murales). They represent pieces of life from the past, a sort of open window to a very proud and reserved, outside world. Since the first work, dated to the beginning of the 70's, each individual murales protects the town's history, often reporting of social struggles. Over the years, these paintings have become Orgosolo's most distinctive symbol with an outdoor gallery of more than 300 murales.
Orgosolo also boasts a considerable amount of historical and traditional evidence that dates back from the Neolithic to the Roman Ages and consist of more than 70 domus de janas, numerous nuraghic settlements and Punic and Roman ruins, all very well conserved.
Evidence of the Judicial Age under the Arborean rule has been found, followed by the Aragonese and Spanish, when Orgosolo was forced to accept many hardships. During that time, brigandage in Sardinia was born as well as the inhabitants' mistrust of the state institutions.

The situation didn't change under Savoyan rule, nor after the Wars of Independence when the depression in the second half of the century involved the entire Sardinian island. There were numerous actions by bandits against the new State, stifled by the state's brute strength and the bandits' arrests.
Things started to get better at the beginning of the 20th century thanks to widespread schooling and to the realisation of several public works.
During recent times, Orgosolo's policies have changed and the mixture of different economic activities, more related to the tourism and the service industry have improved its development. Every year, there is an increasing number of tourists. Today Orgosolo offers great hospitality and different points of interest like the Holy Lady of the Assumption church built in 1634, the St. Anthony Abbot church, dating back between the XIV and XV Centuries, the St. Peter the Apostle church, dating back to the XIV Century and restored in the XVIII Century and the St. Egidio and St. Anne rural church built in 17th Century.
Other interesting destinations include the crypt near the parish and the native home of Graziana Mesina, a young woman beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987.
The festivals are very heartfelt and include one in honour of St. Anthony Abbot (January 16th-17th) during which "su pistiddu" is prepared, Good Friday when the s'Iscravamentu celebration takes place (Jesus Christ's Deposition from the Cross), and Easter Sunday when the s'Incontru procession takes place (the meeting between Christ Resurrected and his mourning Mother).
On June 29th, the town's patron saint St. Peter the Apostle is celebrated with a parade of beautiful, traditional costumes. The Holy Lady of the Assumption's fest, also very heartfelt, takes place from August 13th-18th with a solemn procession in the afternoon of the 15th.
The so-called Sa Candelaria (December 31st) is also quite unique. During the morning, children go all around the town holding a bag and each family gives them gifts. Thanking the family, the children wish them well for the new year. In the evening, the young and adults alike sing their good wishes in the houses of the all couples married the previous year.