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The origins of Arzachena

The name is probably pre-Roman; in support of this view, there appears to be a relation between some place names of Sardinia, among which Arzachena itself, and those of some cities of Asia Minor.

In fact, it is believed that populations left this area in search of new lands and later reached the island of Sardinia.

Another certainly more fascinating hypothesis leads to Greece and in particular to Homer's Odyssey: the poem, in fact, refers to the city of Artachia, the capital of the Lestrigoni people who apparently lived in this part of the Island (fig . 1).

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Fig. 1 - Overview of the municipal territory (from http://www.bbliconchi.com/images/info800x/10.jpg).

During the Roman Empire it was called Turublum Minus.

The earliest mention of the name of Arzachena, in the form Arsaghene, dates back to 1421 and is in the Charter of fiefdom granted by Alfonso V of Spain to Ramboldo de Corbaria. Later, it became Santa Maria di Arzaghena.

The town retained a significant importance throughout the entire Giudicato period; after the fall of the Giudicato of Gallura and the beginning of the Spanish domination it slowly depopulated because of the frequent Saracen raids and pestilence (figs. 2, 3).

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Figs. 2, 3 - Sardinian Giudicati from the eleventh to the fourteenth century (from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Giudicati_sardi_1.svg) and the Giudicato of Gallura (from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/thumb/2/23/Giudicato_di_Gallura.jpg/640px-Giudicato_di_Gallura.jpg).

During the second half of the sixteenth century the area was virtually uninhabited.

Until the end of the nineteenth century, the village only consisted of a group of houses gathered around the country church of Santa Maria, built in 1776.

The village of Santa Maria d'Arzachena, then condensed in Arzachena, was by now a reality. In 1922, it obtained municipal autonomy, breaking away from Tempio Pausania after years of battles, ably led by the brothers Michele and Salvatore Ruzittu (fig. 4).

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Fig. 4 - Arzachena, overview (from http://www.infeagallura.it/Rete/Immagini/arzachena01.jpg)

Bibliografia

  • ANGIUS V., Arzachena, in CASALIS G., Dizionario geografico, storico, statistico, commerciale degli Stati di S. M. il Re di Sardegna, VII, Torino 1840.
  • DAY J., Villaggi abbandonati in Sardegna dal Trecento al Settecento: inventario, Paris 1973.
  • FLORIS F., (a cura di), Arzachena, in Grande Enciclopedia della Sardegna, Sassari 2007, pp. 69-71.
  • MANNONI F., Arzachena, in BRIGAGLIA M., TOLA S. (a cura di), Dizionario storico-geografico dei comuni della Sardegna, 1 (A-D), Firenze 2006, pp. 91-95.
  • MASTINO A., La Gallura: l'età punica e romana: percorso storico e archeologico, in BRANDANU S. (a cura di), La Gallura, una regione diversa in Sardegna: cultura e civiltà del popolo gallurese, San Teodoro, I.CI.MAR. Istituto delle Civiltà del Mare, 2001, pp. 37-110.
  • MELONI G., SANNA M. G., La Gallura in epoca medievale: 3. L'insediamento umano, in BRANDANU S. (a cura di), La Gallura, una regione diversa in Sardegna: cultura e civiltà del popolo gallurese, San Teodoro, I.CI.MAR. Istituto delle Civiltà del Mare, 2001, pp. 122- 128.
  • PITTAU M., I nomi di paesi città regioni monti fiumi della Sardegna. Significato e origine, Cagliari 1997, p. 26.

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