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Barumini

Barumini is visited for its town center and its surrounding areas, featuring the most important nuragic monument in Sardinia: the Su Nuraxi complex, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

The Historic Region of the Marmilla

Located in south-central Sardinia, straddling the border between the provinces of Oristano and South Sardinia, is the Marmilla region. The landscape is predominantly hilly, encompassing the Giara di Gesturi, Giara di Siddi, Giara di Serri, the Genoni plateau, and the Rio Mannu d’Isili basin, with agriculture and tourism serving as the primary local activities.

The Municipality of Barumini

The municipality of Barumini (Sardinian: Barùmini, elevation 202 meters above sea level, population 1,178 as of December 31, 2021) is situated in the northern part of the Province of South Sardinia, bordering the Province of Nuoro, in the heart of the Marmilla region within the fertile plain south of the basaltic plateau of the Giara di Gesturi (Sa Jara Manna). The municipal territory has an irregular geometric profile with elevations ranging from 155 to 457 meters above sea level.

Origin of the Name

The name has an unclear origin, potentially derived from post-classical Latin. Scholars suggest it may come from the Phoenician root Bar (meaning well), a Greek compound meaning annoying or unhealthy (Homini) due to past malaria, or the Sardinian Barumine / Baromine meaning “Altar of the Moon”.

Economy & Gastronomy

• Primary Sector: Agropastoral activities, cereal, wheat, vegetable, fodder, olive, citrus, grape, and fruit cultivation, alongside cattle, pig, sheep, horse, and poultry breeding. Sheep farming remains prominent, highlighted by the selected Sardinian sheep breed competition held every April.

• Secondary & Tertiary Sectors: Small enterprises in food, electronics, and construction, alongside a strong tourism sector supported by natural and archaeological attractions.

• Local Dishes: Traditional gastronomy includes Sa Simbua Fritta (cooked semolina) and Su Callau in Drucci (a pudding made with milk, rennet, sugar, and lemon peel).

Historical Overview

Inhabited since the Nuragic period, the territory later experienced Punic and Roman dominations, leaving behind thermal bath sections of a Roman villa and mosaic remains. In the 11th century, it belonged to the Giudicato of Arborea as the capital of the Marmilla curatoria.

After centuries of shifting feudal jurisdictions—including the Carroz, the Moncada, Pietro de Besalù, the Centelles, the Borgia, and the Català—the territory was purchased in 1541 by the Aragonese Açor Zapata, whose family maintained the fief until the abolition of the feudal system in September 1839. In 2001, Barumini transferred from the Province of Cagliari to the Province of Medio Campidano, and in 2016, it passed to the Province of South Sardinia.

Giovanni Lilliu

Barumini is the birthplace of the renowned archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu (born in 1914, died in 2012 at age 97). Lilliu dedicated his life to studying Sardinian prehistory and directed the excavations that brought the Su Nuraxi complex to light during the 1950s. He served as a professor at the University of Cagliari, founded the School of Specialization in Sardinian Studies, became a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in 1990, and received the Sardus Pater award in 2007.

Festivals and Traditions

• January 20: Festival of Saint Sebastian, featuring Su Foghidoni (a blessed community bonfire where citizens throw wheat grains as a prosperity symbol).

• Holy Week: Easter celebrations and rites.

• Last Saturday and Sunday of April: Sardinian Sheep Breed Fair, showcasing elite rams and ewes.

• May: Shearing Festival (Sagra della Tosatura), established in 1982, featuring expert shearers (Is tunditoris) using special shears (Is ferrus po tundi).

• May 15: Festival of Saint Isidore (Sant’Isidoro).

• Third Sunday of July & December 13: Festival of Saint Lucy, featuring Sa xicca de Is froccus (an archaic devotion where bachelors and married men collect colored yarn ribbons from homes to hang on the saint’s banner) and the Palio of Saint Lucy horse race near Su Nuraxi.

• September 17 & 18: Festivals of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Ignatius of Laconi, featuring Sa roda fireworks.

• December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the town’s patronal feast.

Exploring the Center of Barumini

• Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Immaculate: Built in 1590 in late-Gothic style, featuring a 15th-century polychrome wooden predella, a 17th-century Genoese-school polychrome marble altar, a 16th-century Stampace-school retablo triptych, and a 1799 organ.

• Palazzo Zapata Museum Complex (Su Palazzu ’e Su Marchesu): A 16th-century Spanish-style baronial palace built directly over the foundations of a large complex nuraghe named Nuraxi ’e Cresia. Inaugurated as a museum complex in 2006, it features glass floors overlooking the ancient nuraghe, the Giovanni Lilliu Archaeological Section, an Ethnographic Section with a regional launeddas museum, and a Historical Section housing over 10,000 Zapata family documents.

• Church of Saint John the Baptist: Consecrated in 1316, featuring two naves of distinct architectural phases, a Romanesque design, and a pillar traditionally associated with the Confraternity of Good Death where condemned prisoners were tied.

• Church of Santa Tecla: A 17th-century Aragonese-style building featuring an octagonal rose window with decorative glass, which served as the public cemetery from the late 18th century until 1885.

• Church of Santa Lucia: A small 16th-century church surrounded by a garden with a pillared loggia of nine pointed arches.

• Town Hall (Municipio): Located at Viale San Francesco 5.

• Church of San Francesco & Former Franciscan Convent: Built in 1609 with the support of Baron Francesco Zapata, featuring a single nave, a cloistered courtyard, and serving since 2006 as the headquarters of the Barumini Sistema Cultura Foundation.

• Old granary (Monte Granatico): Established in 1719 and remodeled in the 1840s with a neoclassical pedimented facade, now housing the Banco di Sardegna.

• Ruins of the Church of Saint Nicholas: 11th- or 12th-century abandoned church ruins situated near Su Cucuru ’e Santu Nicola, marked by a stone jubilee cross erected in 1900.

Exploring the Surroundings of Barumini

• Municipal Cemetery: Established in 1719 / relocated in 1885 in the Paiolu olive groves.

• Su Nuraxi Nuragic Complex: Discovered and excavated by Giovanni Lilliu between 1940 and 1957, this UNESCO World Heritage Site (1997) features a central mastio tower (built in 1478 BC) encased by a four-tower bastion and later reinforced with four additional towers, surrounded by a village of around fifty circular huts. Archaeoastronomical studies classify Su Nuraxi as a lunar nuraghe, where major southern moonstops align tangentially with its towers every 18.6 years.

• Giovanni Lilliu Center for Communication and Promotion of Cultural Heritage: Opened in 2008 near the archaeological area, hosting permanent exhibition displays, excavation photographs, a 1:10 scale model by Francesco Argiolu, and temporary cultural exhibitions.