Wonderful Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with a special autonomous status within the Italian Republic. An ancient land that keeps the traditions of different civilizations – from the powerful Nuraghes to the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs and Byzantines. Sardinia delights with its amazing beauty and variety of landscapes, the emerald-crystal sea, lush gardens, ancient cities, unique architectural and historical monuments and excellent dishes prepared from the gifts of rich nature. The island abounds with beautiful resorts for every taste: from the luxurious “Millionaires’ Village” of the Costa Smeralda and Porto Rotondo, popular among world celebrities, to the ancient city of Cagliari in Sardinia and the amazing resort of Chia with its virgin nature. It is hard not to agree with the famous Italian singer and poet Fabrizio De Andre,
Geographical position
Sardinia – the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 24,090 km² and a population of more than 1.6 million people, is located to the west of the Apennine Peninsula, between Sicily and Corsica. Sardinia is part of Italy as the autonomous region of Sardinia.
Climate
Sardinia has a mild Mediterranean subtropical climate. The average temperature in winter is + 10 °C, in summer + 26 °C, and the water temperature in summer reaches + 25 °C. Here the sun shines almost all year round, rains are rare – in autumn and winter.
Kitchen
The richness of the fertile land and the centuries-old traditions of the island have provided Sardinia with its own special cuisine, in which preference is given to the gifts of nature. They love cheese here, and mostly aged sheep’s pecorino cheese. And in Sardinia they produce the “dangerous” Casu marzu cheese, which was banned in all of Italy, but Sardinian farmers still remember the recipe for making this “delicacy” and sometimes perform exotic orders for intrepid gourmets. This unique cheese, due to the content of live insect larvae, means “rotten cheese” in Sardinian. Also in Sardinia, coco bread is prepared according to old recipes – hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Of the meat dishes in Sardinia, they prefer lamb, which is considered the best in Italy, and it is also cooked according to ancient traditions – on a spit on coals with the addition of herbs. In the southern and central parts of Sardinia, the traditional dish is suporcheddu suckling pig. Seafood dishes are represented by the famous botarga – dried cod caviar, which is also added to pasta, as well as excellent sardines, crabs and lobsters. And, of course, Sardinia is famous for its excellent wines, which they prefer to make from local grape varieties. Among the famous wine brands: Cannonau di Sardegna, Monica di Sardegna, Moscato di Sardegna or Vermentino di Sardegna. The best red wines are Turriga and Kore, the best whites are Cala Saliente, Vermentino.
History
The history of the island of Sardinia (Sardegna) begins in ancient times – the Neolithic. There are still unique archaeological excavations – the Tomb of the Giants, the tombs of Domus de Janas (Domus de Janas, “house of witches” or “house of fairies”) or the mysterious ziggurat sanctuary in Monte d’Accoddi. The territory of Sardinia has been inhabited by different peoples since ancient times. So, the first settlers in the north of Sardinia were Italians from the mainland, Spaniards from the Bolearic Islands lived in the middle part, and Africans lived in the city of Cagliari. Therefore, the exact origin of the inhabitants of the island – the Sardis is unclear. The Sardian settlements are known for their unique buildings – the famous nuraghe towers, built of large stones. These fortress towers still remain on the island and today there are about 7,000 of them. In the 7th century BC The Phoenician period began in Sardinia. At that time, the Phoenician Karalis (now Cagliari), Nora, Tharros were built. In 535 BC e. the island was captured by Carthage, and in 238 BC. e. – Rome. In the 5th century, the Vandals seized power, and in the 6th century, Byzantium. In 827, when Spain, North Africa and Sicily were conquered by the Arabs, Sardinia defended its independence. Since 1326, Sardinia was ruled by the Aragonese dynasty, in 1708 the island was captured by Austria, in 1720 Sardinia was transferred to the Savoy dynasty, and then Sardinia, together with Piedmont and Savoy, became united into the Sardinian kingdom, which became part of the united Italy. And after 1946, when Italy became a republic, Sardinia received a special status in 1948.
