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GENERAL INFORMATION |
  
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| The region has a marvellous patrimony of landscapes, popular art and culture, traditional folk music, Sardinian poetry and literature, museums, libraries and art galleries rich in relics from the past, ethnographic collections and fine handicrafts, beautiful churches recalling the past, as well as archeological, architectural and artistic monuments of different historic periods: city walls, towers, castles, bulwarks, palazzi, coast fortifications and even petrified forests. The natural environment includes 1,800 Km of coastline with sandy beaches, cliffs, little islands, promontories, creeks, grottes that can be reached from the sea, enclosed valleys, highlands formed like terraces, wild mountains with stream, waterfalls, little lakes and some fifty reservoirs, hunting grounds and protected areas with mufflons, deer, boars, foxes, hares, wild rabbits, birds of every species and even the little Giara horses. Flamingoes and mallards nest around the ponds along the coast - even near the large cities - as well as hundreds of rare species of birds that can be found on the sand dunes and in the reeds of the lakes. On this island, where there are no poisonous animals and one can come across seals, mufflons, eagles, wild horses and goats, there is also the world of shepperds and herdsmen who rear millions of animals to produce exquisite cheeses, delicious dairy products and meat that has a fine natural taste, the results of natural grazing and the fragrant vegetal essences. Sardinia's attractions do not stop on the coastline. There are dozens of villages in the mountains of the interior where it seems that time has stopped with the fascination of spontaneous rustic architecture and the rituals of religious processions, village festivities, public and private ceremonies and customs that impress the visitor and are not easily forgotten. To have an idea of the value and importance of Sardinian civilisation, one just has to visit one of the many museums of local culture or the major museums in Cagliari, Sassari, Nuoro and Oristano with their sections on popular customs and traditions; or else one can watch one of the hundreds of village feasts with procession of thousands of participants dressed in traditional costumes, or go into the old village craftsmen's work-shops to discover authentic artistic treasures that recall a life lived on a human scale and craftmanship that respects traditional techniques and aesthetics that have been developed over thousands of years. Sardinia presents numerous heterogeneous aspects in its landscape, the houses that differ in style from one area to another, the hundreds of festivities, the dialects with their Semitic, Latin, Byzantine, Catalan, Castilian and Italian influences, the pre-Gregorian music, the numerous pre-Classical musical instruments, the songs for choirs and individual voices, the fine decorative jewellery, the ritualistic amulets and necklaces, and in the Spanish-like pride and "hauteur" of a people who are nevertheless loyal, sincere and generous, all positive attributes of "balentìa". An old proverb has it that one cries twice in Sardinia: the first time when an outsider is "thrown into" this strange land where it seems impossible to integrate oneself and everything seems hostile, rough, barbaric and incomprehensible; and the second time when one has to leave and you realise that this island with its people, its landscape and traditions has entered your heart, to the extent that it feels like home.
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