Sights in Western Sardinia
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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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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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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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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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Chiesa di Nostra Signora di Regnos Altos
Inside Castello Malaspina is the humble-looking chapel, the Chiesa di Nostra Signora di Regnos Altos, which houses an extraordinary and anonymous 14th-century fresco cycle, a veritable who's who of famous saints ranging from a giant St Christopher through a party of Franciscans to St Lawrence in the middle of his martyrdom on the grill.
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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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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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Castello Malaspina
It’s quite a climb up to Bosa’s hilltop castle, Castello Malaspina, built in 1112 by a noble Tuscan family. Note that these opening times often change, and it might well be open for longer over summer.
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Sas Conzas
Across the Ponte Vecchio line up the former 18th-century tanneries known as Sas Conzas, which were still in business shortly after WWII and are now a heritage site. One or two restaurants operate in them in summer.
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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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Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate
East of the Ponte Vecchio is the little Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate, focus of a town festival dedicated to the saint on 16 and 17 January and again at Carnevale time.
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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 del Carmine
At the northern end of the old town, the Chiesa del Carmine, located on the square of the same name, is from the same period as the cathedral.
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Torre dell'Isola Rossa
The squat Catalano-Aragonese Torre dell'Isola Rossa stands guard at the end of the beach. Occasionally temporary exhibitions are held here.
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Cattedrale di San Pietro Extramuros
The Gothic-Romanesque Cattedrale di San Pietro Extramuros is 2km from the old bridge on the south bank of the Temo.
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Chiesa del Rosario
The Chiesa del Rosario is known above all for the unsightly clock that juts out into the street from its whitewashed façade.
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Cattedrale dell'Immacolata
The Cattedrale dell'Immacolata is a rare if not overly riveting example of rococo (officially called Piedmontese baroque).
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Museo Casa Deriu
The Museo Casa Deriu illustrates Bosa’s history, including a section on the town’s old tanning industry.
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