Ozieri

Ozieri is the historic capital of the Logudoro, the great hilly region of northern Sardinia, rich in pastures, wheat and Romanesque churches. The town spreads like an amphitheatre in a green hollow, with colourful houses arranged in tiers around the main square. Its name is linked to one of the most important cultures of Sardinian prehistory, the Ozieri Culture, to a cathedral holding the masterpieces of the Master of Ozieri, to a historic literary prize for the Sardinian language and to sospiri, the most famous almond sweets of the Logudoro.

The Ozieri Culture

In the San Michele cave, on the hill above the town, archaeologists discovered in the 20th century decorated pottery of extraordinary beauty, with spiral and festoon motifs and stylised human figures. Since then the civilisation that produced it, in the late Neolithic between the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, has been called the Ozieri, or San Michele, Culture. It was one of the most refined cultures of Mediterranean prehistory, spread across Sardinia, and it is responsible for many domus de janas and the first hut villages. The cave can still be visited, and the Ozieri Archaeological Museum, housed in the former convent of Santa Chiara, displays pottery, figurines, tools and finds from prehistory to the Middle Ages.

History

In Roman times the area was crossed by the road linking Karales to Olbia, and the Roman bridge of Pont'Ezzu over the Rio Mannu is still visible in the countryside. In the Middle Ages the area belonged to the Giudicato of Torres, and some of Sardinia's finest Romanesque churches were built here. After the Aragonese and Spanish periods, in the 19th century Ozieri became a prosperous town, the farming and trading centre of the Logudoro, a bishop's seat and a place of culture. Many palaces and squares in the centre date from that time.

The historic centre

The heart of the town is Piazza Carlo Alberto, with the Great Fountain, Sa Funtana Manna, built in the 19th century in neoclassical style, and noble palaces. The streets of the centre climb in tiers, with colourful houses, stairways and balconies. The cathedral of the Immacolata, rebuilt in the 19th century with a neoclassical façade, keeps the Ozieri Polyptych, by the 16th century Master of Ozieri, one of the most important Renaissance painters in Sardinia. The town also has the church of San Francesco.

The Romanesque churches

In and around Ozieri are some of the island's most beautiful Romanesque churches. The basilica of Sant'Antioco di Bisarcio, isolated in the countryside on a rise, was the cathedral of the diocese of Bisarcio: built of dark trachyte in the 11th and 12th centuries, it has a decorated portico and an upper floor. Not far away are the church of Nostra Signora di Castro, at Oschiri. The Logudoro is crossed by the Romanesque church route, with San Michele di Salvenero, the Trinità di Saccargia and Sant'Antioco di Bisarcio.

Festivals and culture

Ozieri is a town of culture. Since 1956 it has hosted the Ozieri Prize for Sardinian literature, the oldest poetry and prose competition in the Sardinian language, which helped revive writing in Sardinian. The most heartfelt festival is that of the Madonna del Rimedio, in September, at the sanctuary on the edge of town, with processions, horsemen and a popular fair. Ozieri also has a tradition of improvised poetry contests, the gare a poesia, and of tenor singing. In January the Sant'Antonio bonfires are lit.

Food

Ozieri is famous for its sweets: sospiri, small almond paste sweets wrapped in coloured paper, are the symbol of the town, along with copulettas and papassinos. Logudoro cooking is based on meat and cheese: lamb, suckling pig, pecorino and fiore sardo, bread and handmade pasta. The area also produces fine wines.

Getting there

Ozieri is in the middle of northern Sardinia, about 45 minutes from Sassari and Olbia on the road linking the two towns. The Chilivani railway station, in a district of Ozieri, is an important junction of the Sardinian railways. From here you can visit the Logudoro, with Ittiri, Ploaghe and the Trinità di Saccargia, Lake Coghinas and inland Gallura towards Tempio Pausania.

What to see

• Cave of San Michele
• Museum: archeologico
• Cattedrale dell'Immacolata
• Fontana Grixoni
• Basilica of Sant'Antioco di Bisarcio

Festivals and traditions

• Madonna del Rimedio, fine settembreSeptember

Nearby towns

• Nughedu San Nicolò · 4 km
• Ittireddu · 9 km
• Pattada · 10 km
• Mores · 14 km
• Bultei · 15 km
• Anela · 16 km
• Ardara · 17 km
• Tula · 17 km

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