{"id":10570,"date":"2019-10-23T22:16:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T22:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/377project.com\/?p=10570"},"modified":"2021-04-25T17:02:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T17:02:59","slug":"322-377-simala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/377project.com\/en\/322-377-simala\/","title":{"rendered":"322\/377: Simala"},"content":{"rendered":"

INSPIRATION<\/h4>\n
\"Simala\"
Old portal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the second time in this last part of the trip, my health conditions oblige me to skip a day (which I will spend at rest in the Il Mandorlo hotel in Baressa<\/a>) and to cover two municipalities, fortunately small, on the same day.<\/p>\n

I leave rested and arrive in a few minutes in Simala<\/strong>, another small village in Marmilla, not far from Pompu<\/a> and Curcuris<\/a> that I recently visited. In the Town Hall, where I temporarily leave my bike and luggage, the Mayor Giorgio, the majority group leader Gianmarco and the president of the Pro Loco Maria Luisa are waiting for me.<\/p>\n

\"Simala\"
Historic centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We set out along the streets of what is called the “village of portals<\/strong>“. And indeed every old house in the center has a beautiful wooden doors, surmounted by a stone structure and often by other ornaments. On the main road we skirt the old manor house of the lawyer Massidda, then a wall where the photos of the BiFoto Festival<\/strong> are on display (already seen in Mogoro<\/a>) and go up towards the parish church visible at the end of the road.<\/p>\n

\"Simala\"
Courtyard of the Cancedda house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We stop first to visit a beautiful eighteen-century manor house with an attached nineteen-century palace, which is shown to us cordially by the owner Tiziana. The house belonged to the Judge Eugenio Cancedda<\/strong>, son of the lawyer Salvatore, who built the palace, himself the son of Giuseppe, who got rich by cultivating land by day and by night and built the first nucleus of the house.<\/p>\n

\"Simala\"
Old kitchen in the Cancedda house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A part of the house, which overlooks the huge courtyard, is currently inhabited, while in the uninhabited part there are different rooms, the wagon shed, the old stables, the oil mill room, the haystack, the old kitchens. All the rooms still have tools and objects of the time in excellent condition, which Tiziana proudly shows us.<\/p>\n

\"Simala\"
San Nicol\u00f2 Vescovo parish church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the visit we go to the eighteenth-century parish church of San Nicol\u00f2 Vescovo<\/strong>. The facade is sober, with a bell tower on which Monte Granatico<\/strong> was built, inside which there is a photographic exhibition of the historical portals of Simala.<\/p>\n

The interior of the church is beautiful from the entrance, with a polychrome wooden door and a baptismal font in similar colours. The pulpit, the altar and many other parts feature superfine quality marbles and variegated colours.<\/p>\n

\"Simala\"
Entrance of the San Nicol\u00f2 Vescovo church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here, among the various wooden statues present, is that of San Nicolaus<\/strong>, coming from Gemussi<\/strong>, an ancient medieval village that has now disappeared, near the Rio Mannu river, the ancient local sacred river, around which there are important archaeological remains, from the Mansio<\/em>, a Roman post, up to the remains of the Gemussi nuraghe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Simala\"
Old portal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not far from here there is also another important manor house, Casa Diana<\/strong>, built by the Monserrat Deana family in the mid-sixteenth century, as revealed by the stone on the architrave which dates back to 1554. And then we get to Casa Mascia<\/strong>, recently acquired by the Municipality with the aim of restructuring it and making it accessible to citizens. These manor houses, but also smaller houses, are opened during the Portali Aperti festival<\/strong>, and their courts come alive with activities and the sale of local food and wine products, based on chickpeas, almonds, Cappelli wheat, and other products of this territory with an agricultural vocation.<\/p>\n

\"Simala\"
Historic centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From here we take a road that runs along the whole village, with cultivated fields on one side, and we arrive at the entrance of the village, where, on a hill, stands the country church of Santa Vitalia<\/strong>, built a hundred years ago on the ruins of a pre-existing church. Not far from here are the remains of a Roman road<\/strong>. Back in the center we go to lunch in a restaurant where Maria Luisa tells me some anecdotes about Simala and some of her historical characters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SOUND FRAGMENTS<\/h4>\n\n