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Discovering
the Island
Main Attractions Edition
The first scratch map of Sardinia, you will discover 40 attractions of the Island. Each of them will make you know more local elements.
31 - VILLACIDRO
CASCATE
Villacidro, with its 14,000 inhabitants, is the largest center of the Middle-Campidano. It rises on fertile and luxuriant soil. Olive growing and wine production, together with agriculture and pastoralism in general, are very popular and have always been the centre of the local economy.
In the territory you can admire breathtaking views, Dolomite landscapes, forests and hills adorned with Mediterranean maquis.
The area is crossed by streams and waterways that give rise to three spectacular waterfalls.
The best known is Sa Spendula (in Italian La Cascata), formed by three consecutive jumps for a maximum height of 60 meters. The waterfall takes its water from Rio Coxinas, which springs from the Santu Miali peaks of Mount Linas. The waters form three natural pools at the points where the jumps fall, finally flowing into a gorge (Campanas de Sisinnu Conti) on which a suggestive granite spire is "sculpted".
What made Sa Spendula famous was also a poem of 1882 by Gabriele d'Annunzio, when the poet went with some friends on holiday to the island. The poem was published on May 21 of the same year in the pages of the literary and satirical newspaper Capitan Fracassa.
In the area of naturalistic interest of Monti Mannu there are the waterfalls of Piscina Irgas, which rise from the waters of Rio Linas and make a jump of 45 meters.
Finally, there is the Muru Mannu waterfall, on the border between the towns of Villacidro and Gonnosfanadiga, which with its 70 metres of difference in height is the most impressive waterfall in the whole of Sardinia.
The waterfalls are included in tourist guides and can be easily reached on excursions along well-marked paths through the woods.
The area of Villacidro was inhabited since the Neolithic and Copper Age. In the surroundings of the village there are traces dating back to the Nuragic Age, such as the sites of Narti, Nuraxi and Cuccur'e Crabas. The frequentations were more intense in Roman times, and of this period are the remains of a necropolis and two spa buildings.
In the centre of the town is the Giuseppe Dessì Literary Park, dedicated to the writer who spent his adolescence in Villacidro, winner of the Strega Prize in 1972 for his novel Paese d'ombre.
Villacidro boasts a whole range of attractions, including:
- Church of San Sisinnio;
- Nuragic village of Cottega;
- Museum of Sacred Art;
- Archaeological Museum Villa Leni;
- Sa Potecarìa Pharmaceutical Museum.
