Sardinia · Nuoro
Oliena
A Supramonte village at the foot of Monte Corrasi, source of Cannonau Nepente, base camp for Tiscali and the Lanaitto valley.
135 km / 84 mi
Nearest hub (Sassari)
6,582
Population
Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
Best time to visit
Why come
Oliena sitson the western flank of Monte Corrasi, the 1,463-metre limestone peak that anchors the Supramonte massif in the interior of the Nuoro province. The village is the main inhabited base for one of the wildest karst landscapes in Italy: the Lanaitto valley below the town conceals the Bronze Age village of Tiscali, hidden inside the collapsed roof of a karstic doline, and the caves of Sa Oche and Su Bentu. Su Gologone, the most important spring in Sardinia, surfaces at the foot of Monte Uddè just east of the centre, a natural monument since 1998. The wine here is Cannonau Nepente di Oliena, a vintage red Gabriele D'Annunzio celebrated by name. Olive groves and almond orchards fill the valley below the cliffs. The village belongs to the Parco Nazionale del Gennargentu zone and is a Bandiera Arancione of the Touring Club Italiano.
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Gallery
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Known for
Monte Corrasi
Limestone peak of the Supramonte rising to 1,463 metres directly above the village, the highest point of the massif and a long climb from town.
Su Gologone
Karst spring at the foot of Monte Uddè, the largest in Sardinia and natural monument since 1998, water surfacing emerald-green from the Supramonte aquifer.
Villaggio nuragico di Tiscali
Bronze Age village of circular huts hidden inside a collapsed karstic doline on Monte Tiscali, reached on foot through the Lanaitto valley.
Grotta di Sa Oche e Su Bentu
Cave system in the Lanaitto valley with one of the longest subterranean rivers in Italy, used since the Upper Paleolithic.
Grotta Corbeddu
Karst cave that yielded the earliest known human remains in Sardinia, dating to the Upper Paleolithic.
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 working months: dry warmth on the cliff face, water still in the Gologone, hiking conditions for Tiscali and the Lanaitto valley. July and August push past thirty-five degrees on the lower slopes and most serious walkers leave the Supramonte alone between eleven and four. Winter is quiet, with snow possible above 1,200 metres on Corrasi and the village turning to its olive harvest in November. The Cortes Apertas event of Autunno in Barbagia brings open courtyards, Nepente tastings and food stalls into the centre on one weekend each autumn, a fixed point in the village calendar.
How to get there
From Sassari, Oliena is roughly 135 km by road. Allow about 116–162 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).
Drive time to the nearest gateway airports
- Sardinia3h 13m
- Genoa16h 35m
- Turin17h 51m
Elevation 380 m
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