INSPIRATION

The descent from Sorradile to Bidonì is very short. I don’t even need to wear my technical cycling gear. In 10 minutes I arrive at the Town Hall.

I meet the Mayor Ilaria who accompanies me to my accommodation, an old house in the historic center, renovated and used for tourists.

The village is small, only 128 inhabitants, the smallest I have visited so far.

Here too there are many uninhabited houses, but the center is well cared for, with a beautiful stone paving. A modern bell tower stands out.

The church of San Giovanni Battista in the center had been knocked down in the sixties and unfortunately rebuilt in a modern style in the seventies.

For lunch I meet Daniel, who will be my guide throughout the day. Unfortunately, the rainy days of the last few days do not allow us to go up to one of the most interesting sites in the area, the Temple of Jupiter, from the Roman era.

But Daniel has some photos taken from above with a drone on the excavations, which give me the idea of ​​its importance.

We then head towards Lake Omodeo. We drive to the shores and finally after many days in its vicinity, I reach up to touch its waters.

The view from a tongue of sand that extends into the waters is magnificent. Daniel tells me about all the archeology that is present under the waters of the lake, nuragic settlements, and that slowly are being destroyed by the rising and lowering of the waters.

On the way back we stop to see the beautiful country church of the seventeenth century of Santa Maria di Ossolo. On the square a person is photographing the façade.

We approach and I recognize Raffaele Cau, genealogist and expert of Sardinian surnames (and of all that is history of Sardinia). A pleasant, casual meeting that ends at the bar for an aperitif.

But not before a visit to the museum (yes, even a village of 128 inhabitants has a museum!), the museum of witchcraft and magic in Sardinia, S’omo ‘e sa Majarza.

Here the history of magical traditions in Sardinia is well illustrated, the hunting of Sardinian witches, magical remedies, and there is an exhibition of beautiful masks by Roberto Serri from Oliena.

 

SOUND FRAGMENTS

128 notes chase each other, one for each inhabitant.

 

SARDINIAN SHORT STORIES

Daniel, 42, is passionate about these places, their history and their future. He tells me about archeology, history, and above all the state of the lake, what should be done to protect the territory and its treasures.

At the witch museum he tells me some anecdotes. We stop in front of an important stone, coming from an archelogical site, a sacrificial altar where victims were sacrificed, probably also people.

Daniel tells me that during a visit, a woman, visibly shaken in front of the stone, asks to go out. Her leg trembles visibly in front of the stone every time she gets closer. Another woman, a few months later, knowing the story of the other lady, approached all the stones in the museum, and guessed which is the magic stone by feeling a strange energy coming from it.

Daniel himself, illustrating the section of natural remedies, tells me of when he was given a ‘medicine’ by an old man from the village. And in fact I too was treated and healed by warts by a lady from Gavoi, after trying in vain various traditional medical treatments.

The air of magic is felt around the lake. Dead trees sprout from the water. On their branches rest a group of black crows. They look like Christmas trees designed by Tim Burton.

When we pass by, the crows fly away along the waters of the lake. Waters that hide remains of ancient civilizations. I wonder if the remains of the ancient witches rest here below the waters …