Ottāna
Ottàna is a small town in the province of Nuoro, along the 131 D.C.N. state road ( that from 131 S.S. leads to the main city of Barbagie) and famous for the Carnival (with the beautiful masks of Merdules and Boes, that fascinate Sardinian people and the numerous tourists, who gather there for the traditional parade) and the Romanesque church of San Nicola (XII century), constructed with black and red trachyte: in its inside is located the "Pala di Ottàna", a beautiful painting on wood, original from the first half of the XIV century. Octane is a passage locality towards the inner zones of the Barbagia, but it is worth stopping to have a look around. The first human settlements go back to the Nuragic period, but there are also numerous testimonies of the Phoenician and Roman passage. In modern times, Ottàna has been under discussion for the industrialization, that unfortunately does not really reconcile with the surrounding territory.
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