The local museum project, Marmilla is the leader

The museum project of Marmilla is extremely articulated. In 1982 twenty towns of this area and of Medio Campidano have constituted the tourist Consortium “Sa Corona Arrubia” (it means “the red crown” and it takes the name from a rocks crest that rises in the territory: at the sunset, the sun sets off the red lichens color) for the upgrading and the promotion of the archaeological, historical, artistic and cultural inheritance of the territory. The Consortium coordinates also the activities of seven museums.

The Museo Naturalistico del Territorio (the Naturalistic Museum of the Territory), situated in the heart of Marmilla (in the territory of Collinas, in the locality called Sa Corona Arrubia), proposes a dozen of beautiful “diorami”(diorama), in a modern museum system, that gives us the opportunity to travel among the natural atmospheres of Sardinia. They are full-sized perfect three-dimensional reconstructions, that show the ecosystems with the typical flora and fauna of the region. A pathway through places and seasons, enriched by display windows and panels that satisfy the thirst for knowledge and information of the visitors, who during the last five years of activity they have been about 300 thousand. Numerous and successful the fairs already hosted in Sa Corona Arrubia which attract international interest, among which we mention Dinosauri (Dinosaurs), I Grandi di Spagna (The great men of Spain - (Goya, Dalì, Mirò and Picasso), Leonardo Da Vinci, the Ancient Egypt.
The towns joined into a consortium are: Barumini, Collinas, Furtei, Genuri, Gonnostramatza, Las Plassas, Lunamatrona, Mogoro, Pauli Arbarei, Sanluri, Sardara, Segarìu, Setzu, Siddi, Tuili, Turri, Ussaramanna, Villamar, Villanovaforru and Villanovafranca.

The Museo Archeologico (the Archaeological Museum) “Genna Maria” in Villanovaforru, hosted in an elegant nineteenth-century palace in the old town center, preserves the findings found during the diggings of the homonym nuraghic village located at about a kilometer from the inhabited center, around the trefoiled nuragh. There we find evidences of the period between the end of the IV and the beginning of the II millennium B.C., funeral kits of the XVI century B.C. and other objects dated successive ages (in particular related to the Punic and Roman rules: oil-presses, amphorae, vases, lanterns, coins, bowls, pendants), until arriving to the VII century A.D. (ex-voto and cult objects found in the area destined to be a sanctuary): it was in the VI century that the Pope Gregorio Magno started the evangelization work of Sardinia and, from that period, the sanctuary of Genna Maria began to lose progressively its original importance.

In Ales, even if hosted in the near hamlet of Zéppara, the Museo del Giocattolo Tradizionale della Sardegna (the Museum of the traditional toy of Sardinia) is worth a visit. Set up in the ex infant and elementary schools, the beautiful and great fair shows the visitors many examples of toys of the remote and recent past, homemade with the help of adults: they have been reproduced from the national middle school students of Ales, during the prolonged activities of the scholastic three years 1993/1996, under the guide of the professor Nando Cossu. Inaugurated in December 2002, the Museum contains hundred of toys realized with “lean” material (wood, cane, cork, stone, iron): carts, dolls, horses, airplanes, wheels, weapons, sounds reproducers and many other playful instruments, that often galvanized the comparison in races and ability competitions. Hobbies but also socializing occasions, that are part of the traditions of Sardinia.

“Turcus and Morus” (the Turks and the Moors) is the meaningful denomination chosen for the Museo delle Incursioni Barbariche in Sardgna (the Museum of the barbaric incursions in Sardinia), in the Monte Granatico of Gonnostramatza. The idea of expanding on a specific topic came years ago, by virtue of the find of one gravestone in the rustic church of San Paolo (XIII century) in the locality of Serzela: it is readable the testimony of the destruction, in 1515, by the Barbarians led by the Captain Barbarossa, of the village of Uras,. Historical miniatures of coast watchtowers and constructions, sailing vessels and soldiers, diorama and panels tell stories and personages, illustrating also the fears of people of that time and the reasons of conflict between Christians and Muslims: a still current topic today.

Since 2002, in the ex Monte Granatico in Villanovafranca, the Civico Museo Archeologico (the Civic archaeological Museum) hosts an exhibition of findings that tell the story of the territory from the Pre-historic Age to the Middle Ages. The museum pathway, which ranges from the IV millennium B.C. to the VII century A.D., is articulated in three different sections: the Territorio (the territory), the Fortezza Nuragica di Su Mulinu (the nuraghic fortress of Su Mulinu) and the Percorso Tattile (the tactile pathway) (included the panels written with the use of the Braille code).

In the ancient Casa Steri, in the old town center of Siddi, finds hospitality the Museo delle Tradizioni Alimentari della Sardegna (the Museum of the alimentary traditions of Sardinia). In the Casa Steri, typical construction in accordance with the tradition of the Campidano, besides the tools of the agro pastoral world, it is possible to admire instruments, objects and rooms which let us go back to the history of customs and alimentary traditions of the island. To the animals lovers and to the students of birds, we suggest visiting the Museo Ornitologico della Sardegna (the Ornithological Museum of Sardinia) in Siddi, hosted inside the ex Ospedale Managu (the ex Hospital Managu), a nineteenth-century building refurbished during the past century. It is possible to contemplate beyond 250 species of resident and migratory birds. In another room are located some of the principal mammals of Sardinia.

Very interesting is the Museo Civico dell’Ossidiana (the Civic Museum of the Obsidian) in Pau, a village in the middle of a territory where this volcanic glass was particularly diffuse and worked. Hundreds of obsidian sculptures and objects, going back also to the nuraghic period, can be admired all year round.

In Ales, the town which gave birth to the thinker, writer, journalist and politician Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), we suggest visiting the house of the intellectual famous all over the world for the political and social battles fought in a particularly difficult period of History. He died when he was only 46 years because of the failing health conditions due to the long detention for political reasons. In 1921, Gramsci was one of the founders of the Partito Comunista d'Italia (Communist Party of Italy).