INSPIRATION

I wake up. I raise the curtains. Still clouds. And there is a strong wind. From the square of Castelsardo I see the sea that breaks on the rocks below. I leave, in the direction of the Lu Bagnu hamlet. I descend quickly towards the tourist port of Castelsardo, pedaling with the wind to the side and I climb a hard uphill up the coast. Then back down to Lu Bagnu, whose shoreline is beaten by a very strong storm. From here it is a long climb, between volcanic rocks, of about 6 kilometers with a drop of 400 meters!

I arrive at Tergu and I head to the Town Hall. Councilor Andrea, who takes care of my hospitality for the day, welcomes me. I spend the morning walking around the village, which has no real centre, but is scattered throughout the territory in various hamlets. I walk the main road where there is a via crucis of sculptures that reach the church of Nostra Signora di Tergu. On the sides of the road are fields, a corner where succulent plants are grown, and hills with the tops of volcanic rocks as far as the eye can see. The sky is always cloudy, it’s chilly and I’m forced to wear my winter jacket again!

After lunch, Tore, a municipal employee, picks me up and takes me on a tour of the territory. First stop is the nuragic fortress of Monte Elias. We get in the car, along the red trachytic rocks, and then we walk up to a ridge in the middle of which there are the remains of nuragic walls. Once on the summit the panorama extends up to Castelsardo and the sea.

We get back in the car and return to the village, on one side of which there is a road that leads to a valley, called the Hell Valley. Here, in fact, as they told me yesterday at the exhibition on the Spanish Inquisition, it was said that witches went to have relations with the devil. It is also said that heretics were thrown from these cliffs.

Not far away we arrive at the church of Nostra Signora di Tergu, beautiful, in red rock, with around the wall structures that were to be the old monastery. There are also remains of burials, and a well, still full of water. the procession of the last Easter Monday in Castelsardo arrives in this church, with members of the brotherhoods dressed in white and hooded.

We continue first to a place called Punta Lu Cuccu from which the view towards the sea is still breathtaking. Then we continue through some hamlets to reach the ridge where there is the Nuraghe Tuddari, where however we do not climb as the vegetation is too dense. We arrive up to a valley from which opens the view towards the whole Gulf of Asinara, the beaches of Sassari, unfortunately with visibility not exceptional given the day.

Once back in the pseudo-centre, I take a chance to do practical things, laundry, work on the blog and write. I read the little book on Tergu, which was given to me as a gift, and I see that even here as in Castelsardo there is the tradition of baskets made from the dwarf palm, and that there are still ladies who make them, but now it is too late for look for them. I dine in the pizzeria and return early, and despite everything I manage to go to bed very late!

SOUND FRAGMENTS

SHORT SARDINIAN STORIES

During my now distant day in Ollolai, I discovered for the first time the guides to the 377 Municipalities of Sardinia by Carlo Delfino Editore, a series called “All the Municipalities of Sardinia”, each numbered x/377. This obviously struck me not only for the same way of cataloging the villages I chose, but above all for the seriality of the project, being able to produce a guide with the same format for all the Municipalities.

Opening the booklet, thin and portable, the structure is more or less the same for every place: the geography and the history, the origin of name, the economy, the characters, the fiestas, anniversaries, traditional costume, gastronomy, a small anthology , the itinerary, useful information. The guide is always written by some local scholar, and is accompanied by photographs, always made by local people.

Carlo Delfino is a dreamer, with the idea of ​​completing this series sooner or later. I have discovered that not all the Municipalities wish to adhere to the project, and who knows if they will ever do, perhaps even with subsequent administrations. I sincerely hope that one day this series will see its completion, who knows, maybe at the same time I complete my project!