Stintino

Holidays in Stintino

A dream come true. Stintino is situated in the North West of Sardinia on the promontory of Capo Falcone, facing the island of Asinara, the former penal colony and today a natural reserve. It is considered a sort of terrestrial paradise thanks to its natural beauty: the sea of the beach called "La Pelosa", regarded by many as one of the most beautiful beaches of Italy thanks to its turquoise colour and its clarity; the wide extension of the Mediterranean scrub, interesting also from a fauna point of view. For those who want to arrive by ferryboat, at a 34 km distance from Stintino on the north coast is situated Porto Torres, important port linking the island with Genoa and Livorno. For those who prefer to fly, the airport of Alghero is only 60 km from our village.

History and traditions

One land, one people, many stories. Sardinia, through three millennia of history, has been the scene of many dominations, ethnic contaminations and multi-faceted civilization, that have left many traces of their culture. The most important is certainly the Nuragic civilization. It is presumed that this civilization has developed between 1800 and the 1200 b.C. as a community of nomadic shepherds and warlike. Architectural symbol of the Nuragic time is precisely, the "nuraghe", a megalithic construction formed by large blocks of squared stone and overlapping without the use of mortars binders.

Stintino instead was born in the very latest times as a village of fishermen at the end of 1800, when 45 families were evicted from the island of Asinara because of the institution of a health centre intended for the quarantine of sick of cholera. Today, the country is inhabited by about 800 people and lives mainly of tourism.

Eno-gastronomy

Mouth-watering. On all tables of Sardinia the unfailing Sardinian bread "carasau", made of thin sheets cooked in the oven and reduced in almost transparent layers. Other dishes of the tradition are the "culingionis de arrescottu" (ravioli stuffed with ricotta, mint and saffron, dressed with tomato and cheese), the spaghetti with "bottarga" (delicious tuna eggs or mullet contained within their own pockets cysts) and the famous "Porceddu", (spit sucking pig, browned with drops of lard and cooked slowly on the fire of myrtle wood).

The most known Sardinian sweets are the "cocciuleddu" (small pieces of thin pasta filled with almonds, honey, sapa and nuts) and the "sebadas" (breeches stuffed with cheese, fried in oil and subsequently sprinkled with honey). Between the most famous wines in Italy: Vermentino di Gallura, the Vernaccia, the Cannonau, the Red of Marmoiada and the Anghelu rujo. Among the most famous spirits: liqueur of myrtle.

Curiosities

Hung to a wire. One of the most appreciated Sardinian recipes, the "Porceddu su filu su ferru" (suckling pig in Grappa), finds its origins during the Savoy kingdom. In that period a law prohibiting private distilled liqueurs of any type was enacted and therefore also grappa.

Pastors, however, hid the jars of distillate underground with a wire sticking out from the ground in order to find them. That is why grappa is commonly called "su filu su ferru".

Surroundings