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Borore

Borore is an agropastoral center located in the west-central part of the Province of Nuoro, bordering the Province of Oristano, on the flat expanses of the Abbasanta plateau at the foot of the Marghine chain.

The Historic Region of the Marghine

The Marghine is a large plateau formed by post-Miocene lava flows from the Montiferru volcanoes, taking its name from the local mountain range that connects to the Goceano chain. The region features a varied landscape and an exceptional environmental heritage, including one of the Mediterranean’s last remaining griffon vulture colonies. The municipalities comprising the Marghine include Birori, Bolotana, Borore, Bortigali, Dualchi, Lei, Macomer, Noragugume, and Silanus.

The Municipality of Borore

• Elevation & Population: Situated at an altitude of 394 meters above sea level, with a population of 1,982 inhabitants as of December 31, 2021.

• Economic Distinction: Borore is famously known as “The municipality with the oldest wine in the world” following the discovery of numerous grape pips (vinaccioli) dated to 1200 BC, and as “The municipality of the giants’ tombs” because its territory hosts eight such monuments.

• Economy: Based on traditional agropastoral activities, cereal, vegetable, olive, and fruit cultivation, and cattle breeding, alongside a growing industrial sector in food processing, woodwork, building materials, and energy production.

Historical Overview

• Antiquity: The territory has been intensely inhabited since prehistory due to fertile terrain, abundant water sources, and its position as an obligatory passage between northern and southern Sardinia.

• Middle Ages & Feudalism: During the Middle Ages, it belonged to the Giudicato of Logudoro (curatoria of Marghine) before passing to the Giudicato of Arborea. Later under Catalan-Aragonese control, it was governed by the Pimentel family (Marquises of Marghine) and subsequently the Tellez-Giron family until the abolition of feudalism in 1839.

• Modern Era: In 1919, the Ministry of War established one of Sardinia’s first military airfields in Borore. Borore transitioned from the Province of Cagliari to the Province of Nuoro in 1927.

Festivals and Traditions

• January 16–17: Festival of Saint Anthony the Abbot (Festa di Sant’Antonio Abate) and the Tuva, featuring the lighting of the traditional communal bonfire on the eve.

• Carnival: Celebrated with the traditional Shrove Tuesday favata and Shrove Thursday zeppolata.

• Holy Week: Rites including S’Iscravamentu and S’Incontru.

• Spring: Primavera nel Marghine, showcasing local agri-food and artisanal productions.

• Second Sunday of May: Festival of Saint Isidore the Farmer (Festa di Sant’Isidoro l’Agricoltore), featuring a parade of tractors and agricultural vehicles through the town.

• April & August: Festival of Saint Lussorio the Martyr (Festa di San Lussorio Martire), the town’s patron saint celebrated twice a year with religious ceremonies, processions, and horse-riding Ardia.

• First Sunday of October: Festival of Saint Gavin (Festa de Santu Bainzu).

• Mid-August: Don Pietrino Masala Cycling Trophy.

Exploring the Center of Borore

• Municipal Cemetery: Located along Via del Cimitero on the eastern side of the town.

• Borore Football Ground: A football pitch accessible via Via Risorgimento.

• Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Assumed into Heaven: Constructed from 1762 onward in neoclassical and baroque styles by architect Carlo Serra, housing four paintings by Emilio Scherer (1895) depicting the Evangelists and a 12-meter-wide 18th-century polychrome wooden altarpiece in the Chapel of Saint Anthony the Abbot.

• War Memorial & Former Monte Granatico: Located in Piazza Giovanni XXIII alongside Sa Piedade, a historic stone grain warehouse dating from the 18th-century establishment of agrarian credit.

• Town Hall (Municipio): Located at Via Roma 76, featuring the Nino Carrus council chamber adorned with a terracotta bas-relief by Nuorese artist Pietro Longu.

• Casa Delogu: A prestigious architectural building donated to the municipality and restored to serve as a social gathering center.

• Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Located along Via Roma, featuring a bronze portal sculpted in 1987 by Pietro Longu.

• Museum of Ritual Bread (Museo del Pane Rituale): Located off Viale Baccarini (with entry on Via Giovanni Spanu), organized into four rooms showcasing working tools, daily breads, life-cycle breads, and agricultural year-cycle breads.

• Borore Railway Station: A Bronze-category station along the Sardinian main trunk line (Dorsale Sarda), opened in 1880, which served as a provisional regional office during WWII following Cagliari bombings.

• Dos Nuraghes Nuraghe & Village: Located near Viale Don Sturzo, featuring a bilobed complex nuraghe with one of the island’s oldest intact tholos towers (South Tower) alongside the remains of a prehistoric village where emmer and hard wheat seeds dating to the early 14th century BC were recovered.

Exploring the Surroundings of Borore

• Church of Saint Lussorio the Martyr: A rural church surrounded by muristenes (pilgrim lodgings) where the August patronal novenas and horse-riding Ardia take place.

• Imbertighe Giants’ Tomb & Simple Nuraghe: Features an intact basalt stele standing nearly four meters tall with a double-framed doorway, accompanied by a simple monotorre nuraghe.

• Toscono Simple Nuraghe: A single-tower basalt nuraghe with an intact tholos chamber and internal niches.

• Church of Saint Gavin (Santu Bainzu) & Giants’ Tomb: A rural church celebrating its feast on the first Sunday of October, located near a giants’ tomb bearing a 3.2-meter-tall stele with cupule-like offerings.

• Porcalzos Complex Nuraghe: A quadrilobed complex nuraghe featuring well-worked stone masonry, a preserved upper-floor chamber, and interior bastioned corridors.

• Bighinzone Complex Nuraghe: A complex quadrilobed nuraghe with an interred central keep and surrounding cyclopean defensive walls, excavated beginning in 2004.

• Serbine Necropolis and Dolmens: An archaeological area featuring basaltic domus de janas and two megalithic dolmens.