Sardinia · Nuoro
Atzara
A Mandrolisai wine village on the western Gennargentu, painted in the early twentieth century by Spanish costumbristas and the Sardinian Scuola di Atzara.
553m
Elevation
109 km / 68 mi
Nearest hub (Cagliari)
999
Population
Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
Best time to visit
Why come
Atzara sits at 553 metres on the western slopes of the Gennargentu, in the Mandrolisai sub-region that occupies the geographic centre of Sardinia. The village was already known in the nineteenth century for the quality and volume of its wine, the Mandrolisai DOC blended from Bovale sardo (locally Muristellu), Cannonau and Monica. At the turn of the twentieth century Spanish costumbrista painters Eduardo Chicharro and Antonio Ortiz Echagüe came to Atzara to paint Sardinian peasant scenes and were followed by Antonio Ballero, Filippo Figari and other Sardinian artists, the group later called the Scuola di Atzara. Their work is held in the Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Antonio Ortiz Echagüe in the centro storico. The village is a Borgo più Bello d'Italia and a Città del Vino, with the Gennargentu national park boundary running close to the eastern edge of the commune.
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Gallery
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Known for
Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Antonio Ortiz Echagüe
Civic museum holding works by the Spanish costumbristas and the Sardinian painters of the Scuola di Atzara, including Antonio Ballero and Filippo Figari.
Centro storico di Atzara
Stone houses of dark basalt and granite along narrow lanes, the model the Spanish and Sardinian painters used at the start of the twentieth century.
Chiesa di Sant'Antioco Martire
Parish church in the heart of the village, built in Aragonese-Catalan late Gothic style with later modifications.
When to visit
Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
April through June and September through November are the dry, mild months at 553 metres, the right season for Mandrolisai cellar visits and walks toward the Gennargentu. July and August touch thirty degrees in the village and the vineyards switch to early-morning work. Winter is cold and quiet, with snow possible on the peaks above. The Autunno in Barbagia weekend opens cellars, courtyards and the Ortiz Echagüe museum to visitors on a fixed date each autumn, the busiest moment of the year. Sant'Antioco, the patron, is celebrated in early August with processions through the centro storico.
How to get there
From Cagliari, Atzara is roughly 109 km by road. Allow about 93–131 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).
Drive time to the nearest gateway airports
- Sardinia1h 56m
- Genoa17h 22m
- Turin18h 38m
Elevation 553 m
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Close by
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