The town lies beneath the limestone massif of Monte Corrasi, and in its rocks open the crevasses that here are called sas nurras: of some of them the bottom cannot be seen. Grazia Deledda, who often wrote of these mountains, recorded the popular belief that they were mysterious passages between hell and the world, and that from them the devils came out to range over the white mountains in search of souls. Not far off, instead, is Su Gologone, the karst spring where the water comes out of the limestone under pressure, and the gorge of Su Troccu 'e Pentumas.
In the fourteenth century Oliena ended up among the overseas possessions of Pisa, and the Pisans left their mark. At Pappaloppe there still stands a Roman bridge that they put back into service, and which in Sardinian is called Su ponte 'e sos pisanos: over it went the cattle and the cheeses on their way out, and on their way in the spices and the cloths, including the brocade the merchants bought in the East. From that period too is the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, so dedicated because Saint Mary was the protectress of the Pisans. Of the medieval castle, on the other hand, two arches and a small courtyard remain: but the quarter is still called Su Hasteddu.
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📅 Every year, on 31 July; the night of 16 January brings a great bonfire for Saint Anthony in each district
Oliena celebrates Saint Ignatius of Loyola on 31 July, in the church dedicated to him. In the most important patronal feasts, such as Saint Lussorio and Easter, the Tenore, traditional Sardinian polyphonic singing, is always a protagonist.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
