The Romanesque basilica and the gateway to Sardinia
Olbia, on a deep gulf on the north eastern coast, is for millions of travellers the gateway to Sardinia: its port, one of the busiest in the Mediterranean, receives ferries from the Italian mainland, and its airport serves the Costa Smeralda. But it is also an ancient city with a long history: founded by the Greeks or the Phoenicians, it was an important Carthaginian and then Roman port, and in the Middle Ages, under the name Civita and then Terranova, it was the capital of the Giudicato of Gallura.
Its most important monument is the Basilica of San Simplicio, built between the eleventh and twelfth centuries in granite, one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in Sardinia, with a sober, harmonious façade, three naves separated by columns and pillars, and fragments of medieval frescoes. It is dedicated to St Simplicius, the first bishop and patron saint of Olbia, martyred under Diocletian, whose festival in May is celebrated with a palio. The Archaeological Museum, on a small island in the port, displays the remains of Roman ships found during the construction of a tunnel, with the wrecks of about twenty ships sunk in the fifth century, perhaps during an attack by the Vandals. The pedestrian Corso Umberto is the lively heart of the town.
Tip: Olbia is a convenient base for Tavolara, San Teodoro and the Costa Smeralda; try the "zuppa gallurese" and the local mussels.
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