Olbia to Nuoro and Orgosolo: Private day trip

Nuoro is the proud, rugged heart of Sardinia. In fact, the region is called “Barbagia” because when the local “barbarians” forced back the Romans. This remote hilltop town was most noted for banditry until the 19th century when several renowned artists, including poet Sebastiano Satta, novelist Salvatore Satta, sculptor Francesco Ciusa and Nobel Prize-winning author Grazia Deledda were born here. Thanks to these personalities, Nuoro boasts some of the island’s most important museums, like the Museo MAN, Sardinia’s best modern art museum, the Museo Cuisa, as well as ethnographic and archaeological museums detailing the region’s history. Or you can just wander the Rione Santu Predu, the historic artist’s district, which still looks much as it did in the 19th century. No matter what, try to track down su filindeu, a pasta half as thick as angel hair that only two women know how to make. It’s sometimes available at Al Ciusa and Il Refugio.

The Orgosolo Murals are a 20th century outlet for an anti-authoritarian streak running back thousands of years. The Romans had trouble conquering them, and even as recently as 1969 the shepherds rebelled against the Italian army when they tried to build a base on their shared lands. During this period of social strife, an anarchist theatre company calling themselves Dioniso created the first of Orgosolo’s murals. After that, communist teacher Francesco Del Casino and his art students began painting more murals to remember the Resistance and Liberation of Italy from Fascism, share their political beliefs and criticize social injustices. And not just local ones - the huge, cubist graphics address everything from Vietnam to Gaza. But not all of Orgosolo’s murals are socially charged - some simply pay homage to daily rural life. To aid in your mural hunting, you can buy an English-language guide from one of the handful of souvenir shops.