Nuoro, the Athens of Sardinia. This is how the capital of Barbagia is defined, in the heart of Sardinian land. Athens because the Sardinian province has given birth to many intellectuals starting from Grazia Deledda, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926. The writer Salvatore Satta, the sculptor Francesco Ciusa, the painter and photographer Antonio Ballero, the jurist Gian Pietro Chironi were also born in Nuoro. These are just some of the names of well-known personalities from the world of art and literature who have consecrated Nuoro as 'the Athens of Sardinia'. Definitely emblematic is the figure of Deledda, still a symbol and pride for the Nuoro people, the second Italian to win the Nobel after the poet Giosuè Carducci.
Nuoro, Athens of Sardinia
Today in Nuoro you can visit prestigious museums and cultural centers, places that preserve the great historical and artistic-cultural heritage of the area. The city has its roots in the traditions, in the secular uses and customs of the barbagia. An area that many consider the real Sardinia. From the district of Seuna to that of Santu Predu, Nuoro offers ancient history which, together with the museums and Monte Ortobene, make it a place to be discovered.
Santu Predu is the fulcrum of Nuoro's history: Grazia Deledda lived in this district. The narrow streets, the old houses point their gaze on Mount Ortobene, which dominates the Sardinian Athens. Symbol of the city, it is a granite mountain, famous for the beauty of its rugged places e savages. Those who decide to climb it will find the great Statue of the Redeemer at the top. On Monte Ortobene also the remains of pre-Nuragic tombs and Nuragic buildings that fascinate historians and scholars.
(On the cover works by Costantino Nivola in the center of Nuoro - Commons Wikimedia - Max Oppo - CCBY SA 3.0)
