That Usellus was a Roman colony is told by a bronze tablet of AD 158, by which one Marcus Aristius Balbinus accepted to be the town's patron for himself and his heirs: there the place is called Colonia Iulia Augusta Uselis. Ptolemy calls it a colony too, but puts it on the wrong coast; and Pliny writes that Sardinia had only one colony in his day. Scholars are still arguing.
The Roman town was destroyed by the mountain men of Barbagia. The medieval village was a bishop's seat and the capital of its curatoria, until both were taken from it and given to Ales, next door. Of Uselis traces remain near the church of Santa Reparata; in the territory there are nine nuraghi and a Roman bridge.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Usellus
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Usellus, but an easy day trip away.