Gallura (region)

Map of Gallura

The formerly sparsely populated Gallura ( Sardinian Gaddura [ ɡaɖˈɖuɾa ]) is a granite region in the province of Sassari in the northeast of the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia . The southern end of the island of Corsica lies across the Strait of Bonifacio, within sight of its north coast . Geologically, Gallura is the northern part of a crystalline high zone that runs through Sardinia's eastern half in a north-south direction. The well-known Vermentino di Gallura white wine is named after her.

geography

The coast of this region of Sardinia ( Costa Smeralda ), which was first developed by tourism, is strongly indented and has a number of offshore islands. In the interior, cork oak forests and the maquis determine the picture. The largest towns in the region are Arzachena (Alzachena), Olbia (formerly Terranoa), with Golfo Aranci as a ferry and airport, Tempio Pausania (Tempiu) and La Maddalena (A Maddalena). There are regular ferries from Palau to the island of La Maddalena, a 15-minute boat ride away.

From the north port of Santa Teresa Gallura it is only 12 km to Corsica . Ferries commute from there several times a day to Bonifacio . When the weather is clear, you can see its white chalk cliffs glowing against the high mountains of Corsica. At Capo Testa you will find a bizarre rock world with numerous granite formations, which have been given animal names because of their appearance.

History and language

In the 18th century, the Gallura was almost depopulated during a plague epidemic. Subsequently, people from the opposite South Corsica were settled. As a result, the Gallurese dialect is closely related to Corsican and has little to do with Sardinian . As a result of the two-century separation from the other Corsican dialects, however, it has developed its own.

The name Gallura is probably derived from the root * gal / kal for 'mountain ridge' from the pre-Romanesque substrate language. The etymology however, explains it as a derivative of Gallo (Hahn), because you could hear crows nor the taps in Corsica in Gallura.

Attractions

A characteristic of Gallura is that, due to geological reasons, the Domus de Janas , which occur more frequently in the rest of Sardinia, are completely absent.