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.
Known for
MANDROLISAI WINE
Red DOC blend of Bovale sardo, Cannonau and Monica from vineyards on the western Gennargentu slopes, the wine that made the village known in the nineteenth century.
SCUOLA DI ATZARA
Early twentieth-century painting school started by Spanish costumbristas Chicharro and Ortiz Echagüe and continued by Antonio Ballero and Filippo Figari.
BORGO PIÙ BELLO
Member of the Borghi più belli d'Italia network, stone village in the geographic centre of Sardinia at 553 metres in the Mandrolisai.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
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.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Atzara’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
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.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 999
- Off the beaten pathi
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Sardinia, 1 h 56 min drive
- Regional capital Cagliari, 1 h 43 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 553 m
- Population: 999
- Surface area: 35.92 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
More towns near Atzara
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Aritzo
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A Mandrolisai mountain village at 800 meters in chestnut and hazelnut forest, where snow once travelled out in straw and came back as lemon sorbet.
🎨 Borghi più belli d'Italia
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