Guspini

Guspini is a town in the Medio Campidano, at the foot of the Arburese mountains, where the plain meets the hills sloping down to the Costa Verde. It has a mining past, linked to the great Montevecchio mine, one of the most important in Europe for lead and zinc, and keeps a unique heritage of industrial archaeology. Its territory also includes the ruins of the Roman town of Neapolis, on the San Giovanni lagoon, a natural monument of basalt columns and woods rising towards Monte Arcuentu and the dunes by the sea.

History

The area was inhabited in the Nuragic age, and along the coast the Phoenicians and Punics founded Neapolis, the new city, on the shores of the Marceddì lagoon. In Roman times Neapolis was an important centre, linked to the island's road network, with baths and an aqueduct, whose ruins remain at Santa Maria de Nabui. In the Middle Ages Guspini belonged to the Giudicato of Arborea. From the 19th century the town grew with the mines: Montevecchio, worked since antiquity and relaunched in 1848 by the entrepreneur Giovanni Antonio Sanna, came to employ thousands of miners. The mine closed for good in 1991 and is now part of the Historical and Environmental Geomining Park of Sardinia.

Montevecchio

The Montevecchio mining village, between the municipalities of Guspini and Arbus, is one of the most evocative places of Italian industrial archaeology. You can visit the Direction Palace, with frescoed and furnished rooms where the managers lived, the Principe Tomaso ore-washing plant, the Sant'Antonio shaft with its tower and hoisting machines, and the mechanical workshop. Guided tours tell of miners' lives, work in the tunnels and the social history of a community that was among the most important in Sardinia. Around the village holm oak woods and trails offer scenic walks.

The town

Guspini's old centre keeps Campidano houses of stone and brick and the parish church of San Nicola di Mira, in Catalan Gothic style, with a large rose window on its trachyte façade. Not far from the centre is a unique natural monument, the basalt columns, volcanic rock formations shaped like hexagonal prisms, formed by the cooling of ancient lava flows.

Nature and the sea

From Guspini the road climbs to Montevecchio and then descends to the Costa Verde, one of the wildest stretches of coast in Sardinia, with the great Piscinas dunes, Scivu beach and coves between the rocks. Monte Arcuentu, with its rocky profile, is a protected area home to Sardinian deer. To the south, the San Giovanni lagoon and the Marceddì lagoon are wetlands rich in water birds, including flamingos.

Festivals

Guspini's festivals follow the Campidano religious calendar, with processions and traditional costumes. The feast of San Nicola, the patron, and that of Santa Maria in August are among the most heartfelt. In January the Sant'Antonio bonfires are lit. In summer the Montevecchio village hosts cultural events, concerts and evening visits to the mining sites.

Food

Guspini cooking blends the farming traditions of the Campidano and those of the mountains: bread, malloreddus, culurgiones, soups, pork and lamb, sheep and goat cheese, and game from the woods. Sweets include pardulas and pabassinas. The wines are Bovale and Cannonau.

Getting there

Guspini is about an hour from Cagliari and 50 minutes from Oristano, a few kilometres from the Carlo Felice highway. From here you easily reach Arbus, the Costa Verde, Villacidro, San Gavino Monreale and Terralba with the Marceddì lagoon.

What to see

• Mine of Montevecchio
• Parish church of San Nicola di Mira
• Menhirs of Perdas Longas
• Archaeological site of Neapolis
• Colonne basaltiche

Festivals and traditions

• Dicembre teatrale guspineseDecember

Nearby beaches

• Piscinas15 km
• Scivu20 km

Nearby towns

• Arbus · 3 km
• Gonnosfanadiga · 6 km
• Pabillonis · 10 km
• Villacidro · 13 km
• San Gavino Monreale · 14 km
• Fluminimaggiore · 16 km
• San Nicolò d'Arcidano · 16 km
• Sardara · 19 km

Sources: Grande Enciclopedia della Sardegna; ISTAT. Original texts by Gotosardinia.