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Piazza Zampillo has always been the heart of the town. Crossed and divided by the Fluminera River, its two partitions were reunited by the Su Vicariu Bridge.
In 1893, the square received an elegant jet fountain, built with the very same black volcanic rock from Serrenti, which was also used to build the front of the wash house. The locals took to calling it “piazza Zampillo”, and continued to do so even when, after a few years, the square was baptized as piazza XX Settembre, in homage to the born again spirit of the Risorgimento.
As far as the locals are considered it has always been a square for games, chats and walks, but between 800 and 900 it was also a place for commerce and business: in front of the Su Vicariu Bridge, cereals and other food stuff were exchanged between the town’s inhabitants, foreigners also gathered here offering to sell their goods.
Facing piazza Zampillo: the 700s construction “Montegranatico” and the houses of two families from Villacidro, which are the birth places of important characters from the story Paese d'Ombre: i Cadoni and i Cogotti.
The Montegranatico dates back to 1767 when, under the Savoy government, the minister of Sardinia “Bogino”, with the intent of re-launching Sardinian’s weak agriculture, decided on the institution of every village in the kingdom.
The objective was to eradicate the phenomenon of high interest rate loans offered by rich proprietors and the clergy to the poorest farmers. Each village was allocated a piece of land that was to be cultivated under obligation and free of charge by the day laborers and yake of oxen owners; the harvest crop was gathered together in these structures and made available to those who needed it for the following year, on loan, with extremely low or non-existent interest rates.
"…The square that in homage to the family was called “piazza Cadoni”, was simply a square for games in those days, belonging to the children of the town." (Giuseppe Dessì - Paese d’ombre)
"…And thus, it was decided to build a wooden bridge that, other than allowing the locals of Norbio to get back to normality, also indicated in that situation, the precise moment in which a strong iron bridge would be built in the future, the very bridge that still exists today and is called Ferraris." (Giuseppe Dessì - Paese d’ombre)
"…Soon, piazza Cadoni was on the verge of being flooded, the water almost reached the mezzanine of the Montegranatico warehouses, in which all of the grain was gathered. If the water had got into the warehouses, the damage would have been disastrous." (Giuseppe Dessì - Paese d’ombre)
