{"id":15687,"date":"2019-12-20T16:21:51","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T16:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/377project.com\/?p=15687"},"modified":"2023-10-08T09:11:27","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T09:11:27","slug":"376-377-quartu-santelena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/377project.com\/en\/376-377-quartu-santelena\/","title":{"rendered":"376\/377: Quartu Sant’Elena"},"content":{"rendered":"

INSPIRATION<\/h4>\n
\"Quartu
Flamingos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here I am, the penultimate day, I try not to think about the arrival but to dedicate as much as possible to Quartu Sant’Elena<\/strong>, the third largest city in Sardinia (after Cagliari<\/a> and Sassari<\/a>). It is impossible to think of seeing everything but I decide to focus on two aspects: the historic centre and the naturalistic and coastal areas.<\/p>\n

So I get on my bike from Pizz’e Serra<\/strong>, a suburb of Quartu, to symbolically head to the Town Hall, even if no one is waiting for me (except Cagliari, all the main cities did not respond to my email, perhaps due to too many commitments , perhaps for not being interested in my project).<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Artwork by artist Rosanna Rossi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a lot of movement, car traffic, people going here and there, and I’m not used to all of this anymore. I’m so scared of driving cars that I decide to get out and walk on the sidewalks pushing the bike by hand. And I arrive at the Town Hall square, which immediately strikes me with the presence of some works of art on the facades of tall buildings which without these works would certainly have been sadder. One, beautiful, made of glass shards, I discover is by the artist Rosanna Rossi<\/strong>. Another one made of brick shards, ceramics and pieces of metal, I don’t know whose it is.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Sa Domu ‘e Farra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opposite here is Sa Domu ‘e Farra,<\/strong> a historic Campidanese house that belonged to the ‘knight’ Musiu who recently died. I enter the beautiful courtyard, with the central well and the rooms all around. Beatrice and Stefano, from the Il Dado d’Arte<\/strong> association that manages the structure, welcomed me and guided me through the spaces. There is a bit of everything, an exhibition of paintings, traditional clothes, a beautiful photograph dedicated to archaeological sites in the area, which are numerous and which unfortunately I will not see. It serves to remind me that the Nuragic people had reached this far, as demonstrated by the Nuraghe Diana<\/strong> in Capitana, on the coast.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Coast watchtower at Poetto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then the historical section, with the description of the coastal towers<\/strong>, that of Mortorio<\/em>, of Cala Regina<\/em>, and that of Poetto<\/em>, now collapsed and half submerged by the water, but which in not very old photos appeared standing and on the beach, around the which we had our picture taken. Then the history of the three villages Ceppola<\/em>, Quarto Jossu<\/em> and Quarto Domino<\/em>. The description of the churches, many of which (given the infinite quantity of churches I saw on this trip) I doubt I will be able to visit.<\/p>\n

Then a bit of more recent history, 1889, “s’annu e s’unda<\/strong>” (the year of the wave) when a flood devastated the territory and the town and after which a series of canals were built. The story of Eligio Porcu<\/strong>, medal for military valor, who died in the First World War. and the history of the pillboxes of the Second World War, and of the structures such as the stepped military barrier in the last part of the salt pans, still visible, to avoid landings from the sea.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Sant’Agata church and ex Cappuccini friars convent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After leaving Sa Domu ‘e Farra I take via Eligio Porcu, still walking with the push bike, I enter the courtyard of the ancient Casa Olla, where a Christmas market is set up (and who is thinking about Christmas!) and I arrive at the central Piazza Matteotti. On one side, the beautiful gardens overlooked by the back of the small church of Sant’Agata<\/strong> and the adjoining former convent of the Capuchin friars<\/strong>, now the Civic School of Music.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Interior of Sant’Elena parish church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the other side a series of old houses, some with noble features but now half abandoned. And a little further on, the imposing parish church of Sant’Elena<\/strong>. Unfortunately there is cleaning in progress and I can’t visit it but by looking out slightly I can glimpse the splendor of the marbles that cover all the walls.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Ex Picci furnaces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I take one last walk before lunch, through the innermost streets, where it is very easy to get lost. Narrow streets, with sinuous paths, which sometimes end in nothingness, and where even a geologist like me completely loses all sense of direction. Many houses in Campidano, with lemon trees sprouting from the surrounding walls, walls often made of mud bricks, entrances with large wooden portals, new and very old. And I reach the border with Quartucciu to visit the former site of the Fornaci Picci<\/strong>, today a site of archaeological-industrial interest, with its warehouses and chimneys, which produced bricks until 1985.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Salt ponds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I dedicate the afternoon to sites outside the city. Unfortunately, due to a matter of time, I will not be able to visit the beautiful coast that extends from the Margine Rosso<\/em> to Terramala<\/em>, passing through Sant’Andrea<\/em>, Flumini<\/em>, Capitana<\/em>. I am content to pedal around the Quartu ponds, skirting the pools where the pink flamingos<\/strong> are not intimidated by the traffic and eat calmly with their heads immersed in the water.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Birdwatching tower at Molentargius Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All these wetlands fall within the Molentargius Park.<\/strong> I cycle along a dirt road that runs alongside the pond and the canals, stopping at a lookout for bird watching: on the horizon I see the limestone hills of Cagliari, the Devil’s Saddle, Monte Urpinu where the journey of my life began. Tomorrow, with the number 377, a circle closes.<\/p>\n

\"Quartu
Birdwatching tower at Molentargius Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\nSOUND FRAGMENTS<\/h4>\n\n