Sardinia Resources • Sardinia Costume Pictures • Introduction to Sardinia Archaeology • L'ardi di San Costantino

Orgosolo on the Web • Painting the Murals • Sardinian Weather and When to Go • Mountin Bike Tours of the Barbagia Region •  Sandalion Tourist Services (trekking and excursions) • Bill Hocker's Sardinia Photography

Sardinia's rugged interior has always been good for developing independent inhabitants who have their own ideas about how a country and household should be run. However primitively rendered that fellow in the upper right seems, you'll still manage to come across shepherds looking exactly like him in any out of the way "shepherd's bar" in Sardinia's Barbagia region, even in these tourist-rich days that present a challenge to every culture trying to preserve its past.

Orgosolo's mural tradition started in the late 1960's when student protest was beginning to question decades of social oppression and injustice. Then, as Italy's "Economic Miracle" was unfolding in the '80s, the painting turned to scenes of everyday Sardinian village life, a life that was vanishing with the changes brought about by the reforms and the new economy. The evolution of the murals was repeating the rhythm of nature--destruction of the past and rebuilding anew--but with an eye toward the old values and traditions.

As you'll see, many of the murals are annotated. Most are captioned with quotes from famous people or memorable phrases repeated in the countryside.

Where is Orgosolo?

Orgosolo is located 17 miles from Nuoro, the provincial capital. There are two hotels there, the Sa 'e Jana and Petit Hotel. I recommend staying nearby at Su Gologone, a short distance east of Oliena. A fine beach called Cala Gonone lies just beyond the town of Dorgali to the east of the hotel. Here is a clickable map that will lead you to hotel listings.

Don't worry about finding the murals. They're everywhere.

Food in the Barbagia

The Barbagia region is famous for "pane frattau" (a "primo" or first course made by dipping the island's famous flat bread into hot water or broth, then layering it with tomato sauce and topping it with a poached egg and grated Sardinian pecorino cheese). The dry, flat bread, called "pane carasau," was designed to be able to be transported by shepherds for a long time as they shepherded their flocks from the mountains to the sea at certain times of the year. You can actually find it in the US at gourmet specialty stores.

Music - Tenores di Bitti

Just to the north of Orgosolo is the town of Bitti, notable for the rather strange (to North American musical sensibilities) and primative sounding yet powerful music of the Tenores di Bitti. I've recorded a short bit of this music from a festival in Sedilo, Sardinia. You'll need a RealAudio player or Windows Media Player to play it (the Windows Media Version is a smaller download). Just click on the speaker icon to hear it (there may be a delay with the RealAudio, you'll have to be patient).

>Real Audio

>Windows Media

The Mural Photographs

These pictures have been taken over several summers in Orgosolo. The visitor will find something new just about every year. In the true manner of a protest medium the murals skewer everyone from the current mayor to kids on vespas.

(You can click the thumbnails of the pictures you're interested in, or start at picture one and see them in sequence as a slide show.)

Murals of Orgosolo - Pictures - Click to Enlarge

Photos of Orgosolo Murals © 2002 by James Martin, Licensed to About.

Endnotes: The Barbagia region of Sardinia is chronicled best by Nobel Prize winning author Grazia Deledda, who penned "Reeds in the Wind" (compare prices) and Cosima (compare prices). Ms. Deledda was born in Nuoro in 1871. Her house, featured exactly as she described it in her biographical novel Cosima, has become the Museo Deleddiano. You can visit it at Via Grazia Deledda 28 in Nuoro. Links to sites featuring Grazia Deledda have been compiled by Esther Lombardi at our Classical Literature Site. If murals are your interest, you may wish to compare the Orgosolo murals with those in San Francisco. How to Get To Sardinia Click the map icon to see the ferry routes and airline options between Sardinia and the Italian Mainland.