The Ogliastra (Ogiàstra, Ollàstra or Ozàstra in Sardinian) is a region located in central-eastern Sardinia, belongs to the Barbagia, in the past known as Barbagia Trigònia.
It is part of the province of Nuoro, in the past Ogliastra was an Italian province of Sardinia (provìncia de Ollastra or provìntzia de Ogiastra in Sardinian), having as chief towns Tortolì and Lanusei active between 2005 and 2016 was one of the 6 Italian provinces with capital shared between 2 or more cities.
Ogliastra is adjacent to the Gennargentu, a mountainous area of great extension located in the central-eastern part of Sardinia, including the highest peaks of the island. You can breathe clean air and the food is frugal and not industrialized.
One of the most popular typical products is the cheese, strictly of goat or sheep. Some say that it is a fundamental element, together with the water of some sources, of the elixr of the long life that the inhabitants of this region seem to have discovered. The herbs that goats and sheep feed on the mountains give the local cheeses a unique flavor. The cheese, especially between May and July, can be purchased directly from the shepherds, in the rest of the year in the various dairies in the area.
Cheese is the basic ingredient of local cuisine, eaten at any time either as a snack or as an appetizer or at the end of a meal, grated to season pasta and soups.
Ogliastra is a place still in time, with incredible landscapes and ancient rocks with many colors where people live mainly in an agropastoral society where every elderly person is seen as a sage, a holder of culture and information and never as a weight. Perhaps this is the real reason that made this one of the regions where we live better and longer in the world.
Longevity in Ogliastra
Ogliastra, together with Okinawa in Japan, Ikaria in Greece and Nicoya in Costa Rica, belongs to the so-called Blue Zone of International Longevity. Always in the whole area, but in particular in some countries such as Arzana, Villagrande Strisaili, and Perdasdefogu, there is a high number of over ninety and over 100 years.
This longevity has given rise to various studies, Italian and American, on the origin of the ogliastrins, noting in their collective DNA of strong relationships with that of the ancient nuraghe.
Villagrande Strisaili with its village of Villanova holds the World Primacy of male longevity: from the post-war period to 2011, 32 are over 100 years old, to which were added 4 more than one hundred years in 2012 and 2013.
The longevity of the inhabitants of Ogliastra is already known in the nineteenth century as much as being mentioned in the dictionary “Sardinia country by country” Angius Casalis.
The village of Perdasdefogu entered the Guinness Book of Records with the longest-lived family in the world.
In Ogliastra there is an average of 16 centenarians per 50,000 inhabitants, which is very interesting if compared to the national average of 14 out of 100,000 inhabitants. The municipalities of Baunei, Urzulei, Ulassai, Talana, Triei are certainly among the most long-lived in the world.
To visit in Ogliastra
In the region there are many monuments and historical buildings that are worth visiting, following a list of the main visits not to be missed:
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Maddalena Lanusei
Palazzo Piroddi Lanusei
Lavatoio Comunale di Ulassai
Palazzo Comunale (Ulassai)
Beata Vergine del Monserrato Bari Sardo
Chiesa di Sant’Andrea Apostolo (Tortolì)
Episcopio Palazzo dei Conti Quigini-Puliga Tortolì
Chiesa San Antonio Abate XII sec Tortolì
Archeology in Ogliastra
Nuraghe di Ardasai a Seui
Nuraghe di Serbissi di Osini
Nuraghe s’Ulimu di Ulassai
Tomba dei giganti, loc. Osono – Triei
Complesso di S’Arcu ‘e Is Forros a Villagrande Strisaili
Nuraghe Serbissi a Osini
Nuraghe s’Ulimu a Ulassai
Nuraghe Pranu a Ulassai
Nuraghe S’Ortali ‘e su Monti a Tortolì
Nuraghe Ardasai a Seui
Nuraghe Bau e Tanca a Talana
Nuraghe Bau Nuragi a Triei
Nuraghe Coa e serra a Baunei
Nuraghe Gessitu a Jerzu
Nuraghe Orruinas ad Arzana
Nuraghe Scerì a Ilbono
Nuraghe Selene a Lanusei
Nuraghe Ulleri a Tertenia
Nuraghe Corru Trabutzu a Villagrande Strisaili
Villaggio nuragico Or Murales a Urzulei
Sacred wells (Pozzi sacri)
Tempio a pozzo Su Presoni a Cardedu
Pozzo sacro Sa Brecca a Tertenia
Pozzo sacro Is Cramoris a Perdasdefogu
Domus de janas
Necropoli di Tracucu a Lotzorai
Domus de janas Sa Crabiola a Ulassai
Domus de janas Monte Arista a Cardedu
Domus de janas Su Rettore a Bari Sardo
Dolmen
Dolmen di Mogola e Seroni a Ulassai
Tombs of the Giants (Tombe dei giganti)
Tomba dei giganti di Osono a Triei
Tomba dei giganti Sa Carcaredda a Villagrande Strisaili
Tomba dei giganti Truculu a Ulassai-Osini
Tomba dei giganti Selene a Lanusei
Tomba dei giganti Genna e Pauli a Ulassai
Tomba dei giganti Is Iligir ladas a Ulassai
Tomba dei giganti Is arenas a Urzulei
Megaron Temple
Tempio Megaron S’Arcu e is Forros a Villagrande Strisaili
Menhir
Menhir di Cea a Tortolì
Judicial age
Castello di Medusa a Lotzorai
Torre di San Miguel a Tortolì
Torre di San Giovanni a Tertenia
Torre del periodo aragonese di Bari Sardo
Igor W. Schiaroli is specialized in new media and technology. He has expertise in publishing and media sector. He is an independent journalist and a writer but primary a technologist and an economist too. He has passion and curiousity about science and travel.
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