VISITING 'TUMBA DE ZIGANTES, LI MIZZANI' IN LU PALAU

Joseph de Ca'th Lon visits Tumba de Zigantes

Joseph de Ca'th Lon and his friends are in Lu Palau today. Joseph loves Archaeology and they are visiting Tumba de Zigantes aka Li Mizzani, an amazing megalithic gallery grave located on the north of the island.

During the travel from Castaddu to Palau, The Grandma has been studying a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 9).

More information: Past Simple (Irregular Verbs) Affirmative

Palau, in Gallurese Lu Palau, is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in Sardinia about 220 kilometres north of Castaddu/Cagliari and about 30 kilometres northwest of Olbia. It was a frazione of the comune of Tempio Pausania until 1959.

It is located on Punta Sardegna, and was founded in 1875 by local shepherds. The Capo D'Orso or Cape of the Bear formation is nearby, at the very northwest tip of Sardinia. The unique formation is a result of honeycomb weathering, a form of salt weathering.

More information: Comune di Palau-Palau Turismo

Giants' tomb, in Sardinian Tumba de zigantes, is the name given by local people and archaeologists to a type of Sardinian megalithic gallery grave built during the Bronze Age by the Nuragic civilization. They were collective tombs and can be found throughout Sardinia, with 800 being discovered there.

A stone cairn lies over the burial chambers, with some examples having a cup-shaped entrance similar to the court cairn tombs of Ireland.

Visiting Tumba de Zigantes aka Li Mizzani

There are two general types of giants' tomb. In the so-called slab type, uncut slabs are buried on end in the ground, and are arranged side-by-side. There is usually a central stele, which is the largest slab, up to 4 m in height, and has a doorway cut through it.

In the more primitive slab-type giants tombs, the central slab is unmodified aside from the entrance that is cut through it at the base, or else there is a crude dolmen-like arrangement of 3 uncut rocks to form the entrance like Osono, Sortali, Lolghi and Pescaredda. 

More information: Sardegna Turismo

In more advanced slab-type giants tombs, the central slab is modified so as to be rounded on top, and has a simple design carved into the front surface like Dorgali, Goronna, Santu Bainzu and Coddu Vecchju.

The sepulchres have a characteristic rectangular plan with an apse. The burial chamber is usually 5 to 15 metres long and 1 to 2 metres high. The structures were originally covered by a mound resembling the shape of an overturned ship. Near the entrance an obelisk, betile in Sardinian, is usually found, which symbolizes the gods or ancestors who watched over the dead.

The so-called block type tombs are made of rectangular-cut blocks like Bidistili, Madau II, Seleni II, Iloi and Mura Cuata.

There are also structures similar to the block-type giants tombs on the island of Malta, in the United Kingdom and in Menorca.

More information: The Vintage News

As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, 

man is an invention of recent date.

And one perhaps nearing its end.

Michel Foucault

SARDINIAN FOOD: MEDITERRANEAN CULTURAL ESSENCE

Pane Carasau

Today, Tina Picotes and her friends want to talk about Sardinian food, which is wonderful and full of cultural influences. The friends have been tasting some of the most typical Sardinian dishes, and they have discovered how rich is Mediterranean food and every one of its cultures.

Before tasting these wonderful dishes, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 8).

More information: Past Simple (Regular Verbs) Negative & Questions

Sardinia's rich and varied history has made it an incomparable food destination, with influences stretching back 2,500 years. Learn more about the food and drink of this beautiful Mediterranean paradise.

We always think of Sardinia as being Italian, and it technically is, but the island is a far stretch across the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Italian mainland, so much so that it is as close to Tunis as it is to Rome, and much closer to the French island of Corsica. 

Tallutzas with prawn sauce and wedge clams

As the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, Sardinia has always been coveted, and the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Catalans and Spanish have all called the island home over the last two millennia. Even before that, the island was home to the Nuragic peoples, one of Europe’s oldest civilizations.

As a result, modern day Sardinia is a one-of-a-kind conflation of cultures, with a unique food scene to match. The Emerald Coast in the northeast of the island is a particularly popular destination, home to beautiful old fishing towns like Santa Teresa Gallura, and some of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful coastlines. Wherever you go, you’ll find a rich tapestry of influences, from the Catalan-inspired Alghero on the west coast to the ancient and historic capital of Casteddu/Cagliari in the south.

Sardinia is already famous as the home of bottarga, fregola and the infamous Casu Marzu cheese, but the island has so much more to offer for gastronomic adventurers. Read on for some more Sardinian specialities to watch out for when you visit.

More information: Sardegna Turismo

Bottarga

Bottarga is emblematic of Sardinia’s special and unique food traditions. Grey mullet or tuna roe is dried, cured and pressed into a block of delicious, umami goodness, and usually grated over pasta or served in thin slices as a starter. Although it’s become incredibly popular in modern European cuisine, the majority of top-quality bottarga stays on the island, so keep an eye out for it whilst you’re there.

Bread

Sardinia is known for its many varieties of bread, ranging from simple rustic loaves to intricately decorated and shaped coccio which are baked for special occasions. The wheat grown on the island is regarded as the best in Italy, and was even exported by the Romans across the empire.

Cheeses

Bottarga

Sardinia has a special affinity with cheeses, perhaps in part due to its proximity with the French-governed island of Corsica to the north. The island produces lots of sheep’s cheeses, with fresh whey made into ricotta, whilst curds are moulded into pecorino. Most famous of all is Casu Marzu, a Sardinian pecorino that contains live maggots. Though the legal status of the cheese is questionable, you won’t find it on sale in shops anywhere in Sardinia or the world, it’s still considered a great delicacy by the locals.

Seafood

Great seafood is all about freshness, and Sardinia’s access to the bounty of the Mediterranean makes it a paradise for seafood lovers. Sardinian fishermen bring home lots of sardines, of course, as well as swordfish, tuna, lobster, clams, and a bounty of other fish and shellfish. Keep a special look out for sea urchins too, a Mediterranean delicacy with the strong saline flavour of the sea.

Meat

If seafood isn’t your thing, don’t fret, Sardinians love their meat too. There are more than four million sheep in Sardinia, so lamb and mutton are both prominent if you head a bit further inland, but goat is popular on the island too, as are pigs. Younger animals are often eaten in simple ways, grilled over open fires, whilst older animals end up as delicious charcuterie like proscuitto, pancetta and coppa.

Fregola con le arselle

Pompia

A unique and unusual citrus fruit native to Sardinia. It has a pleasant sour and bitter flavour, not unlike a grapefruit. It can be larger with a much thicker, more wrinkled skin. It only grows in citrus groves around the town of Siniscola, where it is eaten with lashings of honey, or used it to make liqueur.

Maialino arrosto

As it is in many cultures across the globe, suckling pig is a treasured delicacy in Sardinia, and locals prepare it in their own signature style. Myrtle and juniper are both plentiful on the island, you’ll find them frequently used in Sardinian dishes, and they give a beautiful smokey, menthol aroma to the suckling pig, which is completely wrapped in myrtle leaves before being slow-cooked over juniper wood until melting and tender.

Fregola

It looks like giant couscous, but fregola is actually semolina pasta dough, hand-rolled into little balls and toasted in an oven to give a nice nutty flavour and chewy texture. Although it’s often used in traditional Italian pasta dishes, you’ll find it in a whole host of salads, soups and stews too. Seafood fregola with saffron is Sardinian through and through, a must-try if you’re on the island.

Pane carasau

Also known as carta di musica, literally, music paper, pane carasau was originally found preserved among the remains of Sardinia’s ancient Nuragic civilization, meaning it has been eaten on the island for at least 3,000 years. Baked durum wheat flatbread is separated into two sheets and baked again to create this thin, crispy delicacy. Sardinians eat pane carasau with almost anything, so you’ll find it a welcome presence at almost every meal you eat on the island. The most famous dish made from it, however, is pane frattau, which sees the bread topped with a tomato sauce and a poached egg.

Panadas

Panadas are Sardinian pies, originating from the small town of Assemini, just outside Cagliari. These days the fillings can vary hugely, you’ll find vegetarian and cheese panadas are fairly common, as well as beef and pork, but the most traditional pies have a lamb filling inside, which is fried then baked inside the pastry. If you’re lucky, you might even find very traditional eel panadas around, although they’re the least common of the lot.

Malloreddus

Malloreddus with sausage and fennel ragu

Saffron is very popular in Sardinia thanks to the island’s Catalan and Arabian heritage.

The luxurious, heady spice is used in a wide variety of dishes, but particularly in malloreddus, a small gnocchi or gnocchetti, typical of Sardinia, made with durum wheat flour, water and a touch of ground saffron. It’s often served as malloreddus alla campidanese, where the little gnocchetti are covered in a delicious sausage and tomato ragù, and sprinkled liberally with pecorino cheese.

Seadas

Even when you’ve eaten more than your share of incredible pasta, seafood and roasted meats, there’s always a bit of room for seadas. These gorgeous little dough parcels are deep-fried and drizzled with honey, and the crispy pastry gives way to a soft filling of fresh pecorino. They’re often finished with a bittersweet grating of orange peel, too. Delicious.

Pardulas

These curious little tarts are traditionally associated with Easter, although you can find them year-round in Sardinia's bakeries today. Filled with ricotta, citrus peel and saffron, the filling is a soft, moist sponge bursting with flavour.

Culurgiones

This is Sardinia's most beloved stuffed pasta, hailing from Ogliastra in east Sardinia. A simple dough is made from flour and semolina, before being stuffed with mashed potatoes, grated Pecorino Sardo or Fiore Sardo and fresh mint. They're robust, filling, and perfect for keeping the island's hungry shepherds well-fed. The pasta is shaped to represent an ear of wheat.

More information: Food Republic

Sardinia has to have some of the best seafood on the planet.

I'm a sea urchin freak, and Sardinia's are some of the best I've had.

Andrew Zimmern

NURAS: PHOENICIANS, CARTHAGINIANS AND ROMANS

Visiting Nuras (Nora) near Pula, Sardìnnia

Today, Tonyi Tamaki has arrived to Sardinia to spend some days with her friends. She has gone to Nuras directly where the rest of the group is visiting the ancestral ruins, symbol of the splendorous past of this city.

Before Tonyi's arrival, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 5).

More information: Present Continuous Negative & Questions

Nuras in the mediaeval Sardinian language or Nora is an ancient Roman and pre-Roman town on a peninsula near Pula, near to Cagliari in Sardinia.

In his Description of Greece, Pausanias, a Greek-Roman geographer of the second century, narrates the mythological foundation of the city: After Aristaeus, the Iberians crossed to Sardinia, under Norax as leader of the expedition, and they founded the city of Nora. The tradition is that this was the first city in the island, and they say that Norax was a son of Erytheia, the daughter of Geryon, with Hermes for his father.

The area was previously occupied by a village of indigenous Sardinians, but soon became an emporium and then a Phoenician city. Especially after the conquest of Carthage, Nora flourished, as along with Bithia near Chia it was the first stage on the sea route from Carthage to Sardinia and its most important city, Cagliari.

More information: Sardegna Turismo

The Nora Stone, a Phoenician inscription found at Nora in 1773, has been dated by palaeographic methods to between the late 9th century and early 8th century BCE, and has been interpreted as referring to a Phoenician military victory and conquest of the area.

Tonyi Tamaki visits Nuras, Sardìnnia

After a period of domination by Carthage, the town came under Roman control after the conquest of Sardinia in 238 BCE. The city is mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana, a Roman-period itinerarium. It went into decline from the mid-5th century CE after the Vandal conquest of Sardinia.

The island was taken by the Eastern Romans in 535 who ruled it for 300 years According to the Ravenna Cosmography, after the Arab conquest of Carthage in 698 the city lost its economic function and became a simple fort, Nora praesidium.  

Nora appears to have been abandoned during the 8th century. Its toponym, however, remained in the name of a curadoria, main administrative division, of Judicatus of Caralis at the beginning of the second millennium. Nora was an important trading town in its time, with two protected harbours, one on each side of the peninsula. Several different building styles can be seen in the excavated buildings.

Because the southern part of Sardinia is sinking into the Mediterranean Sea, a substantial part of the former town is now under the sea. A similar fate has befallen nearby Bithia, which is now completely submerged. A significant part of the town of Nora situated on land belonging to the Italian Army has not been excavated. The ruins of Nora are an open-air museum, and the remains of the theatre are occasionally used for concerts in the summer.

More information: ActivSardinia

Phoenicia, from the Ancient Greek Φοινίκη, Phoiníkē, was a thalassocratic ancient Semitic speaking Mediterranean civilization that originated in the Levant in the west of the Fertile Crescent.

Scholars generally agree that it included the coastal areas of today's Lebanon, northern Israel and southern Syria reaching as far north as Arwad, but there is some dispute as to how far south it went, the furthest suggested area being Ashkelon. Its colonies later reached the Western Mediterranean, such as Cádiz and most notably Carthage in North Africa, and even the Atlantic Ocean. The civilization spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC. 

The Grandma visits Nuras, Sardìnnia

Phoenicia is an ancient Greek term used to refer to the major export of the region, cloth dyed Tyrian purple from the Murex mollusc, and referred to the major Canaanite port towns; not corresponding precisely to Phoenician culture as a whole as it would have been understood natively. 

Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to those of ancient Greece, perhaps the most notable of which were Tyre, Sidon, Arwad, Berytus, Byblos and Carthage. Each city-state was a politically independent unit, and it is uncertain to what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single nationality. In terms of archaeology, language, lifestyle, and religion there was little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other residents of the Levant, such as their close relatives and neighbors, the Israelites.

Around 1050 BC, a Phoenician alphabet was used for the writing of Phoenician. It became one of the most widely used writing systems, spread by Phoenician merchants across the Mediterranean world, where it evolved and was assimilated by many other cultures, including the Roman alphabet used by Western Civilization today.

More information: Journey of a Nomadic Family

Carthage was the Phoenician state, including, during the 7th–3rd centuries BC, its wider sphere of influence, known as the Carthaginian Empire. The empire extended over much of the coast of Northwest Africa as well as encompassing substantial parts of coastal Iberia and the islands of the western Mediterranean Sea.

Phoenicians founded Carthage in 814 BC. Initially a dependency of the Phoenician state of Tyre, Carthage gained independence around 650 BC and established its political hegemony over other Phoenician settlements throughout the western Mediterranean, this lasting until the end of the 3rd century BC.

The Grandma & Claire in Nuras, Sardìnnia

At the height of the city's prominence, it served as a major hub of trade, with trading stations extending throughout the region.

For much of its history, Carthage was on hostile terms with the Greeks in Sicily and with the Roman Republic; tensions led to a series of armed conflicts known as the Sicilian Wars (c. 600–265 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC) respectively. The city also had to deal with potentially hostile Berbers, the indigenous inhabitants of the area where Carthage was built.

In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic War, Roman forces destroyed Carthage then redesigned and occupied the site of the city. Nearly all of the other Phoenician city-states and former Carthaginian dependencies subsequently fell into Roman hands.

More information: Italian Ways

The Roman Empire was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization, with a government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa and Asia. 

The city of Rome was the largest city in the world c. 100 BC-c. AD 400, with Constantinople (New Rome) becoming the largest around AD 500, and the Empire's population grew to an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of the world's population at the time.

The 500-year-old republic which preceded it had been severely destabilized in a series of civil wars and political conflict, during which Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC.

Visiting the ancient ruins in Nuras, Sardìnnia

Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt.

Octavian's power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title Augustus, effectively marking the end of the Roman Republic.

The Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history. At its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the world's entire population.

The longevity and vast extent of the empire ensured the lasting influence of Latin and Greek language, culture, religion, inventions, architecture, philosophy, law and forms of government over the empire's descendants.

Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were even made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state; and the Holy Roman Empire.

By means of European colonialism following the Renaissance, and their descendant states, Greco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian culture was exported on a worldwide scale, playing a crucial role in the development of the modern world.

More information: The Telegraph

The Phoenicians are entitled to be commemorated in history 
by the side of the Hellenic and Latin nations; but their case affords a fresh proof, and perhaps the strongest proof of all, 
that the development of national energies in antiquity was 
of a one-sided character.
 

Theodor Mommsen

THE ORIGINS OF SARDÌNNIA: THE NURAGIC CIVILIZATION

Visiting Nuragic ruins

Today, The Grandma and her friends are ready to start her travel around Sardinia. They are in Casteddu (Cagliari), the capital and Joseph de Ca'th Lon has wanted to read about the history of this Mediterranean nation to understand better the places that they are going to visit and see.

Before starting their lesson of History, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 2).

More information: Present Simple & Frequently Adverbs

Sardinia is one of the most geologically ancient bodies of land in Europe. The island was populated in various waves of immigration from prehistory until recent times.

The first people to settle in Sardinia during the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic came from Continental Europe; the Paleolithic colonization of the island is demonstrated by the evidences in Oliena's Corbeddu Cave; in the Mesolithic some populations, particularly from present-day Tyrrhenian coast of Italy, managed to move to northern Sardinia via Corsica.

The Neolithic Revolution was introduced in the 6th millennium BC by the Cardial culture coming from the Italian Peninsula. In the mid-Neolithic period, the Ozieri culture, probably of Aegean origin, flourished on the island spreading the hypogeum tombs known as domus de Janas, while the Arzachena culture of Gallura built the first megaliths: circular tombs. In the early 3rd millennium BC, the metallurgy of copper and silver began to develop.

Joseph de Ca'th Lon visits some Nuragic ruins

During the late Chalcolithic, the so-called Beaker culture, coming from various parts of Continental Europe, appeared in Sardinia. These new people predominantly settled on the west coast, where the majority of the sites attributed to them had been found. 

The Beaker culture was followed in the early Bronze Age by the Bonnanaro culture which showed both reminiscences of the Beaker and influences by the Polada culture.

As time passed, the different Sardinian populations appear to have become united in customs, yet remained politically divided into various small, tribal groupings, at times banding together, and at others waging war against each other. Habitations consisted of round thatched stone huts.

From about 1500 BC onwards, villages were built around round tower-fortresses called nuraghi, singular form Nuraghe, usually pluralized in English as Nuraghes. These towers were often reinforced and enlarged with battlements. Tribal boundaries were guarded by smaller lookout Nuraghes erected on strategic hills commanding a view of other territories.

More information: The Culture Trip

Sardinia was at the time at the centre of several commercial routes and it was an important provider of raw materials such as copper and lead, which were pivotal for the manufacture of the time.

By controlling the extraction of these raw materials and by commercing them with other countries, the Nuragic civilisation was able to accumulate wealth and reach a level of sophistication that is not only reflected in the complexity of its surviving buildings, but also in its artworks. According to some scholars, the Nuragic peoples are identifiable with the Sherden, a tribe of the Sea Peoples. 

The Grandma visits some Nuragic ruins

The Nuragic civilization was linked with other contemporaneous megalithic civilization of the western Mediterranean, such as the Talaiotic culture of the Balearic Islands and the Torrean civilization of South Corsica.

Evidence of trade with the other civilizations of the time is attested by several artefacts, coming from as far as Cyprus, Crete, Mainland Greece, Balearic Islands and Italy, that have been found in Nuragic sites, bearing witness to the scope of commercial relations between the Nuragic people and other peoples in Europe and beyond.

Around the 9th century BC the Phoenicians began visiting Sardinia with increasing frequency, presumably initially needing safe overnight and all-weather anchorages along their trade routes from the coast of modern-day Lebanon as far afield as the African and European Atlantic coasts and beyond.

In the 6th century BC, after the conquest of western Sicily, the Carthaginians planned to annex Sardinia. A first invasion attempt led by Malco was foiled by the victorious Nuraghic resistance. However, from 510 BC, the southern and west-central part of the island was invaded a second time and came under Carthaginian rule.

More information: Condé Nast Traveler

In 238 BC, taking advantage of Carthage having to face a rebellion of her mercenaries, the Mercenary War, after the First Punic War (264–241 BC), the Romans annexed Corsica and Sardinia from the Carthaginians. The two islands became the province of Corsica and Sardinia. They were not given a provincial governor until 227 BC.

The east Germanic tribe of the Vandals conquered Sardinia in 456. Their rule lasted for 78 years up to 534, when 400 eastern Roman troops led by Cyril, one of the officers of the foederati, retook the island. It is known that the Vandal government continued the forms of the existing Roman Imperial structure. The Vandal Kingdom ended and Sardinia was returned to Roman rule.

Joseph de Ca'th Lon visits some Nuragic ruins

In 533, Sardinia returned to the rule of the Byzantine Empire when the Vandals were defeated by the armies of Justinian I under the General Belisarius in the Battle of Tricamarum, in their African kingdom; Belisarius sent his general Cyril to Sardinia to retake the island.  
Sardinia remained in Byzantine hands for the next 300 years aside from a short period in which it was invaded by the Ostrogoths in 551.

In the early 11th century, an attempt to conquer the island was made by the Moors based in the Iberian Peninsula. The only records of that war are from Pisan and Genoese chronicles. The Christians won, but after that, the previous Sardinian kingdom was totally undermined and divided into four small states: Cagliari (Calari), Arborea (Arbaree), Gallura, Torres or Logudoro.

More information: Ancient Origins

Early medieval Sardinian political institutions evolved from the millennium-old Roman imperial structures with relatively little Germanic influence.

The history of the four Judgedoms would be defined by the contest for influence between the rival rising sea powers of Genoa and Pisa, and later the ambitions of the Kingdom of Aragon.

The Giudicato of Gallura ended in the year 1288, when the last giudice, Nino Visconti (a friend of Dante Alighieri), was driven out by the Pisans, who occupied the territory.

The Giudicato of Arborea, having Oristano as its capital, had the longest life compared to the other kingdoms. Its later history is entwined with the attempt to unify the island into a single Sardinian state (Republica sardisca Sardinian Republic in Sardinian, Nació sarda or sardesca Sardinian Nation in Catalan) against their relatives and former Aragonese allies.

More information: The Guardian

Sardinians as a race are prone to a very non latin, 

almost celtic wistfulness and melancholy.

Dana Facaros

THE GRANDMA AND HER FRIENDS TRAVEL TO SARDÌNNIA

Sardinian Flag

The Grandma has decided to travel to Sardinia, Sardenya for her. She has asked for her friends about this idea and all of them have agreed it.

Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Tina Picotes and Claire Fontaine are going to travel with The Grandma and Tonyi Tamaki, who is now in Iceland, is going to join them next week.

Today, they have flown from Barcelona to Casteddu and they have started this new travel that we are sure it is going to be full of great feelings and unforgettable experiences.

During the flight, The Grandma has started with her new Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 1).

 More information: Present Simple of Be

Sardinia, in Sardinian Sardìgnaor or Sardìnnia, in Italian Sardegna, in Sassarese Sardhigna, in Gallurese Saldigna, in Catalan Sardenya, and in Tabarchino Sardegna is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily and before Cyprus. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula and to the immediate south of the French island of Corsica.

Sardinia is politically a region of Italy, whose official name is Regione Autònoma de Sardigna, and enjoys some degree of domestic autonomy granted by a specific Statute. It is divided into four provinces and a metropolitan city, with Cagliari being the region's capital and its largest city as well.

Arriving to Casteddu, Sardìnnia

Sardinia's indigenous language and the other minority languages like Sassarese, Corsican Gallurese, Algherese Catalan and Ligurian Tabarchino, spoken on the island are recognized by the regional law and enjoy equal dignity with Italian.

Due to the variety of its ecosystems, which include mountains, woods, plains, largely uninhabited territories, streams, rocky coasts and long sandy beaches, the island has been defined metaphorically as a micro-continent. In the modern era, many travelers and writers have exalted its beauty, remained untouched until the contemporary age and immersed in a landscape that houses the vestiges of the Nuragic civilization.

The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *s(a)rd-, later romanised as sardus, feminine sarda. It makes its first appearance on the Nora Stone, where the word Šrdn testifies to the name's existence when the Phoenician merchants first arrived. According to Timaeus, one of Plato's dialogues, Sardinia and its people as well might have been named after Sardò (Σαρδώ), a legendary woman born in Sardis (Σάρδεις), capital of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia.

More information: Sardegna Turismo

There has also been speculation that identifies the ancient Nuragic Sards with the Sherden, one of the Sea Peoples. It is suggested that the name had a religious connotation from its use also as the adjective for the ancient Sardinian mythological hero-god Sardus Pater, in modern times misunderstood as being Father Sardus, as well as being the stem of the adjective sardonic. In Classical antiquity, Sardinia was called Ichnusa, the Latinised form of Ancient Greek Ἰχνοῦσα, Σανδάλιον Sandalion, Sardinia and Sardó (Σαρδώ).

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea with an area of 24,100 square kilometres. To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea; to Sardinia's east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is also an element of the Mediterranean Sea.

Welcome to Sardìnnia/Sardinia!

The nearest land masses are the island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia, the Balearic Islands, and Provence.

The Tyrrhenian Sea portion of the Mediterranean Sea is directly to the east of Sardinia between the Sardinian east coast and the west coast of the Italian mainland peninsula. The Strait of Bonifacio is directly north of Sardinia and separates Sardinia from the French island of Corsica.

The coasts of Sardinia are generally high and rocky, with long, relatively straight stretches of coastline, many outstanding headlands, a few wide, deep bays, rias, many inlets and with various smaller islands off the coast.

The island has an ancient geoformation and, unlike Sicily and mainland Italy, is not earthquake-prone. Its rocks date in fact from the Palaeozoic Era, up to 500 million years old. Due to long erosion processes, the island's highlands, formed of granite, schist, trachyte, basalt, called jaras or gollei, sandstone and dolomite limestone, called tonneri or heels, average at between 300 to 1,000 metres.

More information: Lonely Planet

The highest peak is Perdas Carpìas (1,834 m), part of the Gennargentu Ranges in the centre of the island. The island's ranges and plateaux are separated by wide alluvial valleys and flatlands, the main ones being the Campidano in the southwest between Oristano and Cagliari and the Nurra in the northwest.

Sardinia has few major rivers, the largest being the Tirso, 151 km long, which flows into the Sea of Sardinia, the Coghinas (115 km) and the Flumendosa (127 km). There are 54 artificial lakes and dams that supply water and electricity. The main ones are Lake Omodeo and Lake Coghinas. The only natural freshwater lake is Lago di Baratz. A number of large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the 1,850 km of the coastline.

The climate of the island is variable from area to area, due to several factors including the extension in latitude and the elevation. It can be classified in two different macrobioclimates and 43 different isobioclimates.

Rainfall has a Mediterranean distribution all over the island, with almost totally rainless summers and wet autumns, winters and springs. However, in summer, the rare rainfalls can be characterized by short but severe thunderstorms, which can cause flash floods. The climate is also heavily influenced by the vicinity of the Gulf of Genoa, barometric low, and the relative proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. Low pressures in autumn can generate the formation of the so-called Medicanes, extratropical cyclones which affect the Mediterranean basin.

More information: The Telegraph

This land resembles no other place. Sardinia is something else. 

Enchanting spaces and distances to travel-nothing finished, 

nothing definitive. It is like freedom itself.

David Herbert Lawrence