6 cool things to see in Nuoro – Sardinia

The town of Nuoro is located in the mountainous region of eastern Sardinia. It’s a little out of the way of the beach resorts and DH Lawrence wrote, There is nothing to see in Nuoro which is always a relief, when he visited this inland Sardinian town in 1921.

Thankfully things have changed a bit in Nuoro and this unassuming town is well worth a visit if you are interested in history and culture. We spent a day there and managed to find a few gems that were pretty cool (as in fun and interesting, rather than hip and trendy!).

So here are some of the top things to see in Nuoro that we recommend you visit.

1. Caffe Tettamanzi – a gorgous historic cafe

On arriving for a day’s sightseeing, you’ll be in need of refreshment and there’s a great little cafe called Caffe Tettamanzi on the pedestrianised Corso Garibaldi at No 71.

From the pavement everything looks normal, with outdoor tables where you can sit and watch the world go by. But inside is a lovely traditional mirrored interior with painted ceiling and cherubs flitting about.

Apparently, this is one of the oldest bars in town where some of the literary crowd used to gather, including the local author Salvatore Satta. Why not sit inside with a glass of the local red wine, to soak up the atmosphere and imagine you’re a struggling poet or sculptor.

2. The Museum of Costume in Nuoro

As a lover of fashion and design, I was thrilled to find in Nuoro the Museo della Vita e delle Tradizioni Sarde, otherwise known as the Museum of Costume.

It’s not huge, but if you enjoy fashion and costume, this could be the place for you. The first room reminded me a little of the Museum of Fashion in Bath, with a large display of the most beautiful Sardinian costumes, layers of lace, embroidery, coral and gold filigree jewellery.

In cases along the side were other room-sets with rich displays of the finest textiles, carpets and household objects.

Weird and sinister costumes and masks at Nuoro

If you’re interested in the festivals of this area you can also displays of the weird and sinister costumes and masks that are worn in some of the parades. I felt I might have stumbled into a Dr Who set with alien creatures that could come alive at any moment.

The black hooded creatures tied together with ropes and bells are from Orotelli and with their faces covered in black soot they leap on their victims and tie them up during the Carnival procession.

Then there are the white hairy goatskins from Marmoida known as Sos Merdules and the even scarier black skinned Mamuthones with dark wooden masks and rows of goat bells so you’ll hear them coming.

Although they look rather Devilish, they are supposed to be symbols of good luck and abundance. On the festival days before Easter they parade through the streets, whipped on by a red jacketed guardian. Every so often they jump in the air and their bells clang.

Have your photo taken at the Museum of Costume in Nuoro

If you want a bit of fun they have wooden life size cutouts of the different costumes that you can stick your head through for photographs. The museum attendants were very friendly and only too happy to take photos of us messing around.

Once we’d finished looking round the Museum we walked down the hill into the centre of town, only to find from the posters in the shops that we’d missed a major festival the day before, where we might have spotted many different costumes like this!

3. MAN Art Museum and cool sculptures in Nuoro

Beneath it’s unassuming exterior, Nuoro was a hotbed of cultural and artistic activity in the last century, with writers, poets and sculptors working in the area.

If you walk a few minutes up the hill from the main street, Corso Garibaldi, you arrive at Piazza Satta, named after the famous poet Sebastiano Satta who was born in this neighbourhood.

There you will find some rough blocks of granite that have been made into sculptural shapes, and set into them are some smaller bronze figurines, depicting Satta at various stages of his life.

They in turn are the work of another well known sculptor from Nuoro called Constantino Nivola whose work can also be found in the MAN Art Museum in Nuoro.

The square was deserted when I passed through except for a dog sniffing round the base of the sculptures. If you’re there on a Monday when the MAN Museum is closed, at least you can get a small taste of some of Nuoro’s artistic heritage in Piazza Satta.

4. Traditional biscuits in Nuoro

After looking round the Museum of Costume and having a drink in Caffe Tettamanzi in the centre of town I went in search of some food for our picnic lunch, mindful of the fact that everything closes in Sardinia between 1 and 4 pm.

Down the road I spotted the sign for a pasticceria or cake shop and made a beeline for it hoping to find some biscuits or pastries for lunch.

Unfortunately it was closed, but I soon realised that this was no ordinary pasticceria, but one that specialised in the sort of decorative favours that are given away at weddings and christenings or eaten on festival days.

Normally in Italy it would be sugared almonds but this was clearly the Sardinian twist on things and I discovered that the Coricheddus (little hearts) are a local speciality for this kind of occasion.

The delicate lacy biscuits were miniature works of art designed to be admired rather than eaten. But if I were getting married, I’d definitely be having a few of these delicious frivolities to give away at my wedding.

If you’re interested, you can see the details on the business card in one of the photos.

5. Carved kerbstones in Nuoro

We’d just finished our gelato in Nuoro and were walking back to the car, when there was a strange feeling we were being watched.

Then my eagle-eyed daughter chanced to look down and spotted these little faces carved into the kerb-stone. When we looked closer, there were four faces all together. Now who’d go to the trouble of carving a kerb stone?

Spot them if you can as you walk up Via Tola from the Peter Pan Gelateria towards the arch that leads to the Duomo.

Proof if you still needed it that there’s more to Nuoro than meets the eye.

6. Stay at Hotel Co-op Enis at Monte Maccione

Close to Nuoro, in the cool of the mountains is the hotel where we stayed. Following the signs through the village of Oliena, up a steep and winding track we arrived at Coop Enis at Monte Maccione, which overlooks the valley below.

This is the perfect place for trekking and mountain walking especially if you are interested in the natural habitat of the National Park that surrounds the hotel.

We used our stay at Monte Maccione as a base for visiting the town of Nuoro and the murals at Orgosolo nearby.

The best thing about the hotel, which started as a co-operative venture, were the astounding views from all the bedrooms and terraces. The air was cooler and more refreshing here in the mountains than at the coast which was a welcome break from the August heat.

The rooms are all clean and simply furnished with wooden furniture and there are lots of little bars, sitting rooms and terraces where you can relax.

Food at Monte Maccione

The large restaurant is very popular, especially at the weekend when large family groups come up the mountain for a leisurely lunch and drinks on the terrace stretching well into the afternoon.

In general the food concentrates on Sardinian specialities and pizzas from the pizza oven at the restaurant entrance. We ate there one evening and some things were good, others not so exciting.

The breakfast of bread, jam and yoghurt was a little disappointing as we have been to other hotels of this standard which are able to lay on a fantastic breakfast buffet. The service in the restaurant was sleepy slow, which we found to be the case wherever we ate in Sardinia. I guess the pace of life is just slower here.

They also have a small camping area in the woodland at the back of the hotel. I’d certainly recommend this as a place to stay to enjoy the mountain scenery of Sardinia and see some of the interesting things nearby, especially if you like walking and being close to nature.

Read more about Co-op Enis at Monte Maccione on their website here. You can see all my photos on Flickr from Oliena here.

More Sardinia articles to enjoy

• Sea Caves and a boat trip
• A prehistoric village with a sea view
• How to eat well in Sardinia
• A drive along the west coast of Sardinia
• Window shopping for coral in Sardinia
• Swimming in river pools – near Gola Gorruppu in Sardinia
• Old men just hanging around in Sardinia
• Behind closed doors in Sardinia
  

You can see all my photos on Flickr from Nuoro here and all my Sardinia photos here.

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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