What is Orosei known for?

Forty kilometers of limestone cliffs and boat-only coves between the river mouth and Capo Monte Santo, named for the town itself. Of the twenty-seven historical churches documented in Orosei, thirteen still stand inside or close to the old town. Olive oil from the alluvial Cedrino valley earns Orosei its place in the Città dell'Olio network.

Orosei is a comune in the province of Nuoro, Sardinia region of Italy, about 149 kilometers from Sassari.

Sardinia · Nuoro

Orosei

A small Baroque townin the Cedrino valley, two kilometers from the limestone gulf whose southern coves are reached only by boat.

149 km / 93 mi

Nearest hub (Sassari)

6,809

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Orosei sitstwo kilometers from the coast in the alluvial valley of the Cedrino, the eighty-kilometer river that empties into the sea just below the town. The Gulf of Orosei takes its name from the village and runs south along forty kilometers of limestone cliffs to Capo Monte Santo; its southern coves, Cala Luna, Cala Goloritzè, Cala Mariolu, are reached only by boat from Cala Gonone. The town itself records twenty-seven historical churches; thirteen still stand. The parish church of San Giacomo Apostolo, the patron, rises on a wide stair above Piazza del Popolo in white Baroque eighteenth-century façade. The Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate, built in volcanic stone in two phases across the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries on a Romanesque base, sits inside a medieval complex with a Pisan tower and a ring of cumbessias. Nearby stands Sa Prejonevetza, the surviving tower of a castle once enclosed by walls, later used as a prison and still known by that name.

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Gallery

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Known for

Chiesa di San Giacomo Apostolo
Baroque parish of the patron, rising on a wide staircase above Piazza del Popolo with a white eighteenth-century façade.
Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate
Volcanic-stone church built in two phases in the 14th and 15th centuries on a Romanesque base, with 14th-century frescoes inside.
Sa Prejonevetza
Surviving tower of a medieval walled castle, later used as a prison and still known by that name; part of the Sant'Antonio complex.
Golfo di Orosei
Forty kilometers of limestone cliffs running south from the town to Capo Monte Santo, with coves accessible only by boat.
Spiaggia di Osalla
Coastal outlet of the Cedrino river south of the centre, where alluvium and sea meet at the river mouth.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October is the operating season on this stretch of coast. Boats from Cala Gonone to Cala Luna and Cala Mariolu run from May through September; the cliffs and the coves of the southern gulf are unreachable any other way. July and August fill the village and the river-mouth beach at Osalla. October pulls the temperature back and the boat lines thin, the limestone cliffs hold the light for longer, and the white Baroque façade of San Giacomo reads cleanest against an emptier piazza. Winter is mild on the coast, around twelve degrees, and many of the smaller boat operators close.