Beschreibung
Alghero is certainly one of the best-known cities in the island, a destination for an ever-increasing number of tourists attracted not only by the important historical and artistic vestiges of the old Catalan centre, but also by the beauty of its coast, the blue of the sea, and the interior which offers a varied landscape, full of natural and archaeological treasures. A variety of types of landscape are concentrated together in an area which includes, broadly speaking, the southern part of the Nurra, the middle and upper valley of the river Temo and the historic region of the Nulauro: there are the sandy stretches of coastline, the cliffs plunging straight to the sea and containing an intricate system of karstic caves, the lagoons and the only natural lake in Sardinia, Lake Baratz; there are the gentle hillsides of the interior, cultivated with vines, olives and cereals, and the remote heights away from the coastal strip, bordering with the Meilogu to the east and Planargia to the south, which offer the visitor unforgettable views of the entire area. This natural and environmental variety is accompanied, as we have mentioned, by a surprising quantity of archaeological, artistic and cultural reminders which tell the story and the everyday life of the people who for the last 8,000 years have frequented the Alghero area: from the remains of the various cultures in Sardinia which preceded the civilization of the nuraghes to important fortresses and nuragic villages. And then there are Roman villas and mediaeval buildings and fortifications which marked the territory before and during the foundation of Alghero by the Genoese, who later had to yield it to the Catalans, the new dominators of 14th-century Sardinia who indelibly impressed upon the city their name, their language and their culture. The history of Alghero, a royal city, then continued into the modern age in expansion, in dignity and in fortification of the city centre, in productive and commercial activity, in the maintenance of its language and traditions, bringing this little Sardinian Barcelona, after alternating swings of fortune, into the present period of prosperity and development, thanks especially to prudent and sustainable development of its environmental and cultural assets. It is no simple matter to condense into a few lines such an accumulation of history, monuments and traditions of an area which, besides Alghero itself, comprises the territories of the municipalities of Olmedo, Villanova Monteleone, Monteleone Rocca Doria and, to a small extent, Sassari. We will limit ourselves, therefore, to presenting, briefly and in the order of their historical appearance, the principal environmental, archaeological, artistic and cultural developments, leaving further detailed treatment to the guides to the area.
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