Looking along the crest from Punta Perdu Abes to Punta La Marmora (Walk 42)
INTRODUCTION
Looking south-west from a viewpoint on Monte Ortobene to Monte Corrasi and its neighbours (Walk 1)
Sardinia, lying to the west of Italy, is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. Its sun-drenched beaches have long been renowned for their beauty, and for many decades travellers took a rather romantic view of the hard, simple life led by the island's shepherds. Only in recent years have visitors to the island really started trying to penetrate the complex network of narrow, rugged mountain paths that weave through woods and the dense scrub of the macchia, discovering ancient hand-carved rock tombs, tumbled nuraghic (megalithic) towers and settlements, and cosy little pinnettus used throughout the centuries as simple shepherd's dwellings.
Until recently walkers often experienced great problems trying to follow difficult routes without the benefit of signposts or markers. All agreed that the uplands were wild, remote and often stunningly, savagely beautiful, while at the same time being incredibly difficult to access and frustratingly awkward to explore. Now, however, to walkers' great relief, signposts and waymarked trails have become available in many places, and more and more remote areas are becoming better known.
This guidebook explores the wildest, highest and most remote parts of Sardinia, using a mixture of trodden and un-trodden routes, as well as newly signposted and waymarked trails. The area covered, lying east of the centre of Sardinia, includes the stunning cliff coastline of Ogliastra, the barren Supramonte further inland, and the broad, high mountains of Gennargentu. This region contains some of the best and most popular walks on the island, and was recently proposed as a national park. Good roads from nearby towns, such as Nuoro, allow access to the region, while winding mountain roads penetrate to the most remote parts. Surprisingly, most villages offer a wide range of facilities and often have quite good bus services. This guidebook aims to encourage walkers to visit and explore the villages, use the local services and facilities, and enjoy a wide range of walking routes, to suit all abilities, while exploring the area's rich and varied countryside.
Location
DH Lawrence described Sardinia as being ‘lost between Europe and Africa and belonging nowhere'. More precisely, Sardinia lies west of Italy, south of France and Corsica, east of the Balearic Islands and Spain, and north of the African countries of Tunisia and Algeria. The island's location attracted early settlers from three distinct parts of the Mediterranean – the Italian and Iberian peninsulas, and North Africa. Each had their own culture and traditions, and yet the island was large enough to absorb these, and all other invaders and settlers, throughout the centuries.
Sardinia is renowned for its astounding coastline and rugged landscapes
Sardinia is one of the largest Mediterranean islands, being second only to Sicily in size. Some islands are small enough to be explored comfortably in holidays lasting a week or two, but this simply isn't the case with Sardinia. The island is huge, and the best way for British visitors to appreciate this is to remember that it is about the same size as Wales, but rather more difficult to get around.
Exploring Sardinia in depth would take a lifetime, which is why this guidebook concentrates on the region where the best walking opportunities are within easy reach of each other. In summer, when the heat is ferocious at sea level, the high mountains and cooler air can be gained with relative ease. In winter, when the mountains are covered in snow, the low-lying parts and coastal fringe feature much kinder weather.
Geology
In the area covered by this guidebook, the oldest rocks are complex, contorted, crumbling schist, occurring mainly in the highest mountains of Gennargentu. In some places there are significant granite intrusions, and this rock either forms prominent outcrops or crumbles into coarse sand and gravel. Rising from the sea are massive limestone cliffs, and the same rock extends far inland, rising to high mountains, often incredibly steep, rugged and arid. In some places remnants of this limestone layer sit on top of the crumbling schist and form distinctive taccu (‘shoe-heel') summits, which are steep-sided and flat-topped. Some areas, particularly around the Golgo plateau and Dorgali, are covered by relatively recent basalt lava flows.
The high mountains are often composed of highly contorted schist containing bands of quartz
History
In common with most Mediterranean islands, Sardinia has a long and complex history. It was visited by palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, who established no permanent settlements. Continuous habitation dates from neolithic times, around 6000BC. Interestingly, these settlers travelled from places as far apart as Italy, Iberia and Africa. They sometimes formed alliances and were sometimes in dispute with each other. The most notable neolithic structures on the island are the square-cut rock tombs known as domus de janas (‘fairy house') and tomba dei giganti (‘giants' tomb'). Dwellings, on the other hand, were simple circular huts, with low stone foundations topped by a ‘wigwam' of thatched branches, similar to the pinnettus used by shepherds today.
Inside one of the domus de janas at the Necropoli di Ispiluncas (Walk 50)
By the Bronze Age, around 1500BC, villages of circular huts were often huddled close together for mutual defence, and stout nuraghe (stone towers) were built as central refuges. Immense boulders were used in their construction. Many remain in good shape, some have been partially restored, while others have tumbled, making them difficult to locate, although around 7000 are known.
Phoenician traders visited Sardinia from 1000BC, establishing coastal settlements at first, but encountering resistance as they moved further inland. When Sardinians attacked their ports after 500BC, the Phoenicians sought help from the Carthaginians. Together they conquered most of the island, except for the highest and most rugged mountain areas, which proved difficult for all subsequent invaders to control. After the First Punic War in 238BC, the Romans took control of Sardinia and it became a Roman province for seven centuries. The highest and most mountainous region was deemed ‘barbarian', and this is where the bulk of the routes in this guidebook are located.
With the collapse of Roman authority, Vandals settled in parts of Sardinia from AD456, but were dislodged after AD534, when Sardinia became part of the Byzantine empire. The ‘barbarian' region was the last to be brought under control, and the last to be converted to Christianity. As Arabs spread around the Mediterranean, Sardinia organised its own resistance. Coastal raids commenced in AD703, and the population moved inland for safety. By the year 900 Sardinia had split into four distinct regions, referred to as giudicati. Each region allied itself with particular powers, including the city states of Genoa and Pisa.
As various European powers jostled for supremacy, Sardinia came under Aragonese influence and found itself part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica in 1324. Political turmoil throughout the 14th century led to the formation of the kingdom of Arborea, which encompassed the whole of Sardinia, except for the towns of Cagliari and Alghero, with Eleonora d'Arborea as effective ruler. However, Spanish influence and control in Sardinia stretched through to the early 18th century. During the War of Spanish Succession, Austria and Spain wrestled for control before the island passed to the dukes of Savoy, princes of Piedmont, by 1718. This move led to Sardinia being incorporated
