Barbagia and Orgosolo

The high forested center of Sardinia has been called Barbagia since early times, since the Sards escaped to its mountain fastness to rebel against the Phoenicians, and it has never been conquered. In modern times convicted criminals escape to the protection of Barbagia, like Corsican terrorists taking to the maquis, and are allowed one day a year of amnesty to visit their families. But if they are caught on any other day, their sentence becomes doubly severe. This is the land with laws of its own, feuds and vendettas, whose capital Nuoro only became incorporated in the 19th c. The men I saw, on our café stops, had expressive eyes and an old-fashioned courtesy toward women. The women's toilet, though not the men's, is always locked with a key.

Nuoro, ironically, has the feel of Europe with its sunny cafés where men of a certain age discuss politics in their fine woolen suits. Leftist papers were more in evidence, as well as modern shops and political graffiti. Spring comes later here, and the day we passed through Nuoro was sunny and dry and brilliant with a cool wind and tiny buds on the large oaks on winding hilltop roads, not a good route if you're prone to carsickness. (I am.)

The mountaintop villages were mostly closed, so we found a limonata on a sun-drenched terrace where the rough-looking but courteous men were more or less working in the stillness.

On the other hand Orgosolo is, you could say, always open. This rustic mountain setting became an international art center when Milanese anarchists embedded here in the 60's, leading to an outpouring of grafitti that is more mural art about resistance in all its forms. The subjects include Vietnam, coups in Latin America, the American Indian, 9/11, etc. To uphold their reputation of rebelliousness, presumably, the inhabitants seemed completely hostile. 

Later we would drive to lower Barbagia, through a herd of sheep rushing frantically together, their bells clattering, the little lambs tiny and spotted, the adults with shaggy coats, driven by two men who were not nearly as amused as I.

But first,

 

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Orgosolo

Orgosolo