The village in the crater and the Carrela 'e Nanti
On the eastern slopes of the Montiferru, an ancient extinct volcano in western Sardinia, Santu Lussurgiu is a stone village built in a natural amphitheatre, the remains of an ancient crater, surrounded by woods of holm oak, chestnut and oak, and rich in springs. Its historic centre is a tangle of steep lanes and houses of dark basalt and trachyte, with wooden balconies and wrought-iron balconies, many of them restored.
The village is known for its traditions and crafts: the making of knives, saddles and harnesses, wrought iron and wooden objects, and for its choirs of "canto a tenore" and "canto a cuncordu", the polyphonic singing of the confraternities, recognised by UNESCO, performed especially during Holy Week. The Museo della Tecnologia Contadina gathers thousands of objects of peasant life. Every year at Carnival, Santu Lussurgiu hosts the Carrela 'e Nanti, a wild horse race in which pairs of riders, holding each other by the arms, gallop at breakneck speed along the narrow, steep main street of the village, among cheering crowds. Not far away, the San Leonardo de Siete Fuentes woods, with seven springs and a Romanesque church, and the Cascata di Sos Molinos are lovely places for walks.
Tip: taste the local cheeses and "casizolu", a pear-shaped cheese of the Montiferru; the village is near the Fordongianus thermal baths.
Where it is
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