-> Route Cagliari Province

ROUTE 2

CAGLIARI PROVINCE

Pula - Uta - Villaspeciosa - San Sperate - Assemini - Muravera Villaputzu - Orroli

Time: one day - Length: about 105 Km

Roman Theatre Nora Pula

Follow the SS 195 from Cagliari and on the right of the road you will see the nuraghe Antigori, just before the entrance to Sarroch (20 Km), where there is also the nuraghe Sa Dom’č s’Orku. Fragments of Mycenaean ceramics were found at the first site, testifying to commercial exchanges between the Nuraghi people and sailors from the east Aegean area. After reaching Pula (30 Km), follow the road that takes you to the ancient town of Nora after 3 Km, which was founded by the Phoenicians between the 9th and 8th century. The town flourished in the Punic and Roman ages and was abandoned before 1000. Mosaic floors are preserved here, as well as a Roman theatre. The Romanesque church of Sant’Efisio towers over the beautiful beach before the entrance to the excavations. It was built before 1089, the year it was donated to the Benedictine monks of San Vittore di Marsiglia by the judges of Cagliari. The church is the point of arrival for the procession, which takes the statue of Sant’Efisio every year, at the beginning of May, from Cagliari to the place of martyrdom, with crowds of people joining in wearing traditional costumes. Going back about 22 Km along the SS 195, turn left for Macchiareddu. After about 13 Km turn right and head for Uta following signs. When you reach the town, cross the centre and head for the southern outskirts, where there is the Romanesque church of Santa Maria. The church was built towards the end of the 12th century using various materials: different shades of marble, volcanic stone and especially limestone, with interesting symbolic and decorative sculptures. Heading towards the SS 130, go about 5 Km towards Villaspeciosa.

At the edge of the town centre stands the Romanesque church of San Platano, which was recorded for the first time in 1135 as belonging to the Benedictine monks of San Vittore di Marsiglia. It has an unusual plan with two naves that are completed by an apse and separated by arches resting on ancient capitals and columns. Following the SS 130 towards Cagliari, more or less level with Decimomannu, you reach the crossroads for San Sperate and then head for the town centre about 10 Km away. It is here that Pinuccio Sciola started his murals in 1968 and planned to transform the centre into a "town-museum".

The initiative found favour with various foreign and Italian artists, including Foiso Fois, Primo Pantoli, Giorgio Princivalle and Gaetano Brundu. The beautiful "murales" that were created express the culture and feelings of the people of Campidano despite drawing inspiration from Latin-American figurative forms, in particular Siqueiros. Thanks to the Scuola Internazionale di Scultura (International School of Sculpture) of San Sperate, whose main supporter is Sciola, the town’s artistic tradition lives on today and the area has become a design laboratory for artists and for new and modern forms of artistic expression.

Going along the road again towards Decimomannu, take the SS 130 towards Cagliari and turn off for the town centre of Assemini. Behind the beautiful parish church of San Pietro, in late Gothic-Catalan style, stands the Byzantine church of San Giovanni battista that is of interest for the Greek characters and two inscriptions preserved inside, which date back to between the 10th and 11th century. Here mention is made of Torcotorio, the archon of Sardinia and his wife Getite, and Nispella, the wife of another Torcotorio respectively: they are the names of the oldest judges in Cagliari known to us.