Sardinia, our next port of call, is a large Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. It has nearly 2,000km of coastline, sandy beaches and a mountainous interior crossed with hiking trails. Its rugged landscape is dotted with thousands mysterious Bronze Age stone ruins shaped like beehives. Our task today was to try and gain an understanding of life in Sardinia’s rural interior, where traditional ways are still practiced.
After driving from the port, we ended up in the village of Aggius where there is a wonderful museum that represents the origins and culture of traditional life of the area. The various exhibits reflected the period furniture and everyday tools that might have been used.
Brought altogether they created this museum where a visitor can appreciate the richness of the Gallura history, its traditions and popular culture from 1600 to the present day. There is an original reconstruction of the ‘traditional house; different rooms that portray everyday life, food production & a stunning display of decorative breads that were used for different festivities.
In a separate area, there were a number of displays of beautiful handmade costumes that locals worn on different occasions and an area where we could explore ancient crafts that locals made their leaving from. Working on cork and granite, the blacksmith, the shoemaker, the carpenter & their tools.
There was an entire area where you could read about the techniques of preparation of fabrics and the phases of preparation of the wool and info about how they colored the yarn with local herbs. There was an entire area where a number of different size looms where on display – many of which were in operation.
We completed our adventure with a walking tour along the Tempio’s cobbled streets and were introduce its charms.
We didn’t have time to visit the Cathedral of Saint Peter, parts of which date to the 13th century.
It was a brief visit but very enjoyable.
Quite an interesting area. Dresses were amazing. Thank you for another fascinating blog. Hugs