Things to do in Oristano
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Municipio
On Piazza Eleonora d'Arborea is the neoclassical Municipio.
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Libreria Pergomena
An excellent range of books on all aspects of Sardinia, plus a handful of novels in English, French and German.
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Cantina Sociale della Vernaccia
Most of Oristano's local Vernaccia producers bring their grapes here to be crushed. You can also buy wine from the cantina's shop.
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Specialità Sarde
A one-stop showroom for all the gourmet Sardinian goodies, including cheese and all kinds of fancy fare in jars. Basketry is also on sale.
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Ele Café
Of the centre’s various cafes and bars, Ele Café is hot right now, filling quickly in the early evening and carrying on late.
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Basilica di Santa Giusta
Around 3km south of Oristano at Santa Giusta is the 12th-century Basilica di Santa Giusta, one of Sardinia’s finest Tuscan-style Romanesque churches.
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Chiesa di San Francesco
The neoclassical Chiesa di San Francesco harbours a 14th-century wooden sculpture, the Crocifisso di Nicodemo, considered one of Sardinia’s most precious carvings.
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Gelateria Pinna
A great gelateria. Alongside all your favourite flavours are some lesser-known concoctions. Wine gelato is becoming a hit in Italy and here you can try the Passito di Sardegna Duchessa ice cream, an intoxicating cone.
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Duomo
Duomo was built in the 13th century but remodelled 500 years later. Its free-standing campanile, topped by a conspicuous majolica-tiled dome, adds an exotic Byzantine look to Oristano’s skyline.
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La Grotta
Every day you'll see the little truck arrive to deliver logs for La Grotta's wood-burning stove - the sign of a good pizzeria. It's only open in the evenings, when the cosy wooden interior fills with a laid-back clientele.
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Ristorante Craf
A former 17th-century granary with vaulted dining rooms and folksy clutter. The menu includes a delicious panne frattau (Sardinian bread soup), fish dishes and, if you're game, asinello in padella al funghi (donkey with mushrooms).
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La Torre
This place doesn’t look like much from outside; in fact, it’s not so amazing inside either. No matter, it serves the best pizza in town. If you’re off pizza but just want to enjoy the hectic atmosphere, there’s a full menu of pastas and grilled mains.
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Antica Trattoria del Teatro
Located on a quiet elbow in the pedestrian area, opposite the theatre, the interior of this trattoria exudes subtle elegance. The menu includes vegetarian options such as tempura di pesce all'oriental (vegetable tempura) and a hearty minestrone.
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Lola Mundo
A stylish, modern bar with sleepy jazz tunes playing in the background. During the day people hang out here reading the paper and at lunchtime take a glass of wine with crudités at the marble-topped bar. There are also a few tables outside for those warm summer evenings.
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Trattoria Gino
An old-school neighbourhood trattoria, Gino has been serving tasty, no-nonsense food since the 1930s. The menu covers most bases, but it’s the seafood that really stands out. Start with risotto alla marinara (seafood risotto) before diving into chargrilled seppia (cuttlefish).
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Cocco e Dessì
Smart, but not oppressively so, this is a popular modern restaurant. Well-dressed diners sit down to whopping pizzas and tasty, stylishly presented local food. Menu staples include polpi con patate (octopus with potato), served cold as an antipasto, and orata al vapore (steamed sea bream).
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Queen Eleonora's Statue
Piazza Eleonora d'Arborea became the city's central square through 19th-century urban reforms. Today it is a quiet spot where you can sit beneath the benign gaze of Queen Eleonora's Statue. She holds the ground-breaking Carta di Logu and raises a finger as if she were about to launch into a political speech.
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Torre di Mariano II
Oristano's tidy historic centre retains just a whiff of its former glory, with rows of solid stone houses with tall shuttered windows and lofty internal courtyards. It's almost circular in plan and was once surrounded by a mighty fortified wall whose only remnants are the Torre di Mariano II on Piazza Roma, and the Portixedda just off Via Giuseppe Mazzini to the east.
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Museo Antiquarium Arborense
Oristano’s sole museum, the Museo Antiquarium Arborense contains one of the island’s major archaeological collections with prehistoric artefacts from the Sinis Peninsula and finds from Carthaginian and Roman Tharros. There’s also a small collection of retablos (painted altarpieces), including the 16th-century Retablo del Santo Cristo, which depicts a decorative series of Franciscan saints.
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Portixedda
Oristano's tidy historic centre retains just a whiff of its former glory, with rows of solid stone houses with tall shuttered windows and lofty internal courtyards. It's almost circular in plan and was once surrounded by a mighty fortified wall whose only remnants are the Torre di Mariano II on Piazza Roma, and the Portixedda just off Via Giuseppe Mazzini to the east.
The latter contains an exhibition showing what the city's defences would have looked like before they were pulled down in the late 19th century.
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Duomo Cathedral
The onion-domed bell tower of the Duomo Cathedral dominates the Oristano skyline.
Most of what you see today is a baroque makeover, although some elements, including the apses and a chapel, survive from a Gothic predecessor. The 14th-century wooden sculpture Annunziata or Madonna del Rimedio, in the first chapel on the right as you enter, is believed to be by Nino Pisano, a Tuscan sculptor whose late-Gothic works stand on the cusp of the Renaissance. Two marble panels that once fronted the statue bear 11th- to 12th-century sculptural reliefs on one side depicting Daniel in the lion's den. The other side, carved about 300 years later by an unknown Catalan artist, depicts a…
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