CATALYST PLANET - The Island of Sardinia

Located off the western coast of Italy, Sardinia is a beautiful island well known for its history, beaches, rock formations and caves.

Porto Giunco in Sardinia. Tjshot. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Among all the islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the two largest ones belong to Italy. Sicily is the largest and one of the most well-known for its beauty, but Sardinia, the second largest, is equally beautiful. Like the rest of Italy, it has its own rich history that goes back thousands of years that stretches back before the Roman Empire. Beyond that, the island is known for its beaches and rock formations, but apart from the coastline, the island is also very mountainous. Its highest point, Mount La Marmora, stands at 6,017 feet (1834 m).

One of the most distinctive features of Sardinia are the nuraghes, which are small buildings built in the prehistoric times. There are no records of the people who built and lived in them, but archeological evidence seems to suggest that whoever lived there had an organized tribal system. The Phoenicians came to the island because of the mines, but it eventually passed into Roman rule. Since then, the island has been under the control of many nations. Because of that, Sardinia also has a unique Italian dialect known as Sardu. Interestingly enough, most Italians do not understand the Sardinian dialect and it sounds closer to Spanish than Italian. The language is also very articulate, so in the past, Italians considered it barbaric in comparison to their much softer sounding Italian.

Many ruins from the past are found on Sardinia. The nuraghi are scattered across the island, as are other ancient settlements and towers dating back to the Bronze Age. There are also tombs known as tombe dei giganti, or tombs of the giants, and domus de janas, or fairy houses tombs. But beyond the ancient history, Sardinia’s beaches are also major attractions for the island. They are long and white, often compared to the beaches in the Caribbean, and they regularly make the polls for the best beaches in the world. Is Aruttas, Spiaggia di Piscinas, Spiaggia Rena Bianca and La Maddalena are some of the most popular beaches on the island. Near the sea, too, are the rock formations. Capo Testa is a popular spot to see them. It is near the water but as they are rocks, it requires some hiking, and it does not have the long stretches of white sand. Wind from the Mediterranean has smoothened the rocks over thousands of years, and it has been powerful and persistent enough to shape some of them, which is why the rocks at Capo Testa have such interesting forms. Lastly, the grottos across Sardinia are as equally beautiful and impressive as the beaches and rock formations. There are dozens of caves beneath the island and many are accessible for tourists to visit. The Grotto di Nettuno is one of the most famous caves, and inside it lies an entire lake and large stalactites. Another impressive cave is Grotto Verde, literally translated to “Green Cave”, because of the moss that grows along the stalactites, turning it green.

Grotto di Nettuno. Klaus Nahr. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Like every region in Italy, Sardinia has its own food culture. They do have their own pasta specialities, like malloreddus that is made in a curved shape in order to better catch sauce and cheese. This particular type of pasta is eaten with a sauce called Campidanese and it is made up of saffron, sausages with fennel seeds, tomatoes and Pecorino cheese. In fact, Pecorino cheese originated from Sardinia. It is very popular and goes with many pasta dishes or melted in a sandwich.

Of course, since Sardinia is an island, they are also known for their seafood. Their seafood pasta, fregola ai frutti di mare, is interesting because the noodles are cooked like a risotto. Sardinians also love sea urchins, so much so that they hold sea urchin festivals. The sea urchins are commonly eaten with spaghetti, but the festivals also serve other seafood such as swordfish, tuna carpaccio and fried fish.