Siddi (SU) - Sardinia
Located in the heart of the Marmilla, Siddi is a rural village that stands on a large area of rolling hills and large flat stretches, surrounded and protected by a basaltic plateau formed about 2.5 million years ago (Pranu de Siddi).

 


The plateau or jar of Siddi is covered by a thick, colorful and fragrant Mediterranean scrub. Several endemics are present (wild orchids, broom of Moris, polygon fuck etc.) together with woods of holm oaks and oaks, which climb on its overhanging edges.

 

It is also inhabited by numerous species of birds (kestrel, buzzard, Sardinian partridge, etc.), mammals (fox, hedgehog, Sardinian hare, etc.) and reptiles (hay-grass, Sardinian gongilo, snake-fish, etc.).

 

On the plateau, from where the vast plain below with breathtaking panoramic views dominates, there are numerous traces of prehistoric populations that for a long time have frequented these places.

 


These include the majestic tomb of giants Sa Domu de s'Orcu, one of the most extraordinary examples of nuragic funerary architecture of Sardinia for monumentality and state of conservation.

 


Another site of great interest is Sa Fogaia, a particular and complex nuraghe corridor placed within a Naturalistic Archaeological Park with various services.
The rural landscape of Siddi runs through soft hills and flat environments, among cultivated fields, wheat expanses, historic almond groves, orderly vineyards, rich vegetable gardens, young olive groves and majestic olive trees.

 


The latter, large and powerful like ancient sentinels, stand out in number, shape and color. We find them aligned in small groups or solitary in the middle of machined funds, or ordered to the sides of narrow and remote carters, to mark the direction.

 


These are places that reawaken the link between the beauty of nature and the creativity of man, which produce well-being for the body, and for the spirit.

 

The village has a lovely old town. Slowly, walking through its delightful alleys, often quiet and fragrant, you can discover all its secrets: narrow streets or wider paved with basalt stone, glimpses suddenly, squares and squares, typical houses, large or small, made with local stones and Ladiri (bricks of raw earth and straw), portals decorated with wood, closures decorated with iron, ancient names of the streets, fountains, flowers, works of art...and various other amenities.
On the central square there is the eighteenth-century parish church dedicated to the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, with its high bell tower of the late '600.

 


Inside there are several valuable works. Among these stands out, in the high altar, a precious wooden statue of the Madonna and Child decorated in estofado de oro. Built at the beginning of the 17th century and attributed to the Neapolitan artist Aniello Stellato with a decoration by Giuseppe De Rosa, it is one of the most remarkable works imported from Naples to Sardinia.

 


Opposite is the building that housed the Managu hospital, a rare and important example of a functioning hospital in rural Sardinia in the second half of the 19th century. Of great importance in the history of the village, today part of it houses the Ornithological Museum of Sardinia, that is the only museum of this kind on the island and the most complete museum collection of birds currently present in Sardinia.

 

 

Not far away there are some traditional courtyard houses, original and precious buildings. Among these the Casa Steri, seventeenth-century residence now home to the fascinating Museum of Agro-Food Traditions of Sardinia. Inside, in a path between closed and open spaces, objects and descriptions of functions and contexts of use, the ancient techniques of agropastoral production of the territory of Marmilla and Sardinia of the past are told.

 


The nearby Casa Puddu, an elegant stately building in Neoclassical style of the early twentieth century, the only example of the kind in the country, is now home to a restaurant.
Further on is the delightful Romanesque church of San Michele Arcangelo. Built in the second half of the thirteenth century, it is one of the smallest churches with two naves on the island. Of great interest is the sculptural cycle with "upside down" visible in the architrave of the left portal. It represents a unique in the Sardinian medieval sculptural panorama.
In the village there are also skilled artisans and tasty local products, from pasta to bread, from honey to sweets, from wine to oil, from cheese to garden products, from embroidery to launeddas.
We organize traditional festivals, events and cultural events. Among all Appetizingly, Regional Festival of Good Food.
In Siddi silence and quiet are invigorating, while the friendliness is typical of rural environments, made of small gestures and a great sense of hospitality.