There is still uncertainty on the origins of Oristano

The origin of Oristano is still unclear. The first written references go back to VII century AD and has been attributed to the geographer Giorgio Ciprio. It is cleat that after the destruction of Tharros, a part of its inhabitants moved to the plain in the south of the Tirso, aiming to found a new village. As the years went by, this village became bigger and bigger, until it was the main inhabited center of the “Giudicato di Arborea” named Aristanis: according to some students, this toponym was to indicate a locality between the sea and the ponds, of which the zone is rich.

Aristanis was located on the road that connected Karales (the actual Cagliari) to Turris Lybisonis (to-day Porto Torres). The antique byword in rhyme “portant de Tharros is perdas a carros” (that means “the stones on the oxcart lead to Tharros”) reveals that the first constructions of Aristanis were built with a big amount of materials extracted from the site, nowadays abandoned.