Marmilla
The heart of Sardinia beats in Marmilla: the Giara hills,nature parks, nuragic villages and architectural works.
Marmilla is a subregion of Sardinia located in the south-central part of the region. It is bounded to the east and south by Campidano, to the northwest by Monte Arci, to the north by Giara di Gesturi and Giara di Serri, and to the east by Flumini Mannu. The landscape is predominantly hilly and includes the Giara, the Genoni plateau, and the Rio Mannu basin. The main activities in the area are agriculture and tourism. Crops are mainly cereals, but fava beans are also widely grown. The main tourist attractions in Marmilla are: the Giara di Gesturi and the Monte Arci Natural Park, the Nuragic Village of Su Nuraxi in Barumini, the Cuccurada nuraghe in Mogoro, the Genna Maria complex in Villanovaforru, the Su Mulinu fortress in Villanovafranca, and the Nuragic sanctuary of Santa Vittoria in Serri. Architectural works such as the Romanesque churches of San Michele Arcangelo in Siddi, San Pietro in Villamar and San Giovanni Battista in Barumini Gothic parish churches of San Vito in Gergei, Santa Barbara in Genoni and Beata Vergine Immacolata in Barumini. The Giudicale Castle in Las Plassas, the 16th century Zapata house in Barumini, portals of historic houses in Simala, and the ‘sa corona arrubia’ museum in Lunamatrona territory.
Museum “Sa Corona Arrubia” in Villanovaforru
The Naturalistic Museum of the Territory “Giovanni Pusceddu” is an enchanting contemporary structure, resembling a single block of rock rising from the ground, in which three permanent collections dedicated to anthropology, fauna and botany are displayed. The Anthropic Pavilion offers a path through which it is possible to reconstruct the history and culture of the territory, through six faithful scale reconstructions of the most important archaeological monuments of Marmilla and to a fascinating collection of testimonies of the peasant civilization. The Wildlife Pavilion offers a view of eight large dioramas: wonderful life-size three dimensional reconstructions of local environments populated by evocative animals. A new and innovative way to discover, respect and love the nature that surrounds us, through the scenographic representation of flora and fauna in Sardinia. The Botanical Pavilion is divided into three subsections: the Mycotheque, the Xylotheque and the Herbarium, which help to discover how a plant works, how a fruit is formed and many other secrets of the plant kingdom.
The Toy Museum in Ales
The toy museum in Zéppara, a small hamlet of Ales, reopened its doors a year ago, and is housed within the spaces of the old, now disused schoolhouse. When one visits it, one is immersed in the world of inventiveness, imagination, and precision in building the precious companions of play, of adventures, with the few things one had.
