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The territory of Parco Dessì belongs to the “Parco Geominerario della Sardegna” (Geo-mineral park of Sardinia); there are numerous mineral sites of great interest and beauty within the park. Many of these sites have been, and are, sources of literary and poetic inspiration. Giuseppe Dessì, in Paese d’ombre and in other novels of his, tells of mines and minors, of places and events that emphasize the harsh reality of life and work in the bowels of the earth and the profound transformations caused by mining activity on social and land equilibriums, not to mention those of the economy and the territory.
The mining world has left ample and profound traces of its existence in the park’s towns; Arbus, Guspini, Buggerru and Fluminimaggiore have invested greatly on changing the economy, that desires to turn these places, once of fatigue, into a wide range of tourist destinations rich in suggestion, while keepin the memories of the past still alive.
Other than the Canale Serci mine, set in lush nature, whose buildings have been recuperated in part to be used by the Ente Foreste (corps of forest rangers), evidence of mining activity is clearly visible at Villacidro; intense environmental exploitation and deforestation, today, attested by the beautiful pine forest that encircles the town, thanks to the reforestation carried out as from the end of the 800s.
Villacidro boast an important mining history, even if ii does not preserve visitable sites, it has hosted the Mandel Foundry since the second half of the 800s, at the time one, of the largest in the old continent. Nearby, the Montevecchio mine considered, in the last century, to be one of the most important mines in Europe; here, one can access sites such as: the Anglosarda tunnel in the San Antonio yard, the Piccalinna yard and the Montevecchio quarter, on Gennas hill, the Museum of the Director’s Building, and the Mineralogy Museum.
The vastness of the surprising site and its environmental context is remarkable. Walking along the streets of the small town and around the yards, takes one back in time and conveys amazement due to its elegance and the sophistication of the architectural style of the buildings. Along the street that continues towards the sea, in the direction of Ingurtosu, the Ponente yards are interspersed amongst woods and dense Mediterranean shrub.
The entrance to the small centre of Ingurtosu is almost triumphal; a surprising and picturesque passage under a building’s arch, the Administration Building, decorated with elegant architectural features and a fantastic balcony in red-purple wood. It is without a doubt the most scenic and important from an environmental and geographic point of view, immersed as it is in the Piscinas sand dune range, one of the largest dune ranges, still existing, in the old continent.
Here, one can visit the mining quarter, Gal pit, see the Naracauli washery and walk amongst the dunes. Other destinations not to be missed: Buggerru and Fluminimaggiore. Buggerru, created following the exploitation of the underlying ground, has a structure greatly conditioned by historic activities. Situated behind the town and the port: the Malfidano washery, Lamarmora washery, Henry tunnel, il Museo della Memoria (Remembrance Museum), situated in old mining structures,; the calcination furnaces, the old warehouses, the director’s house and employee accommodation; behind the town, the small miner’s houses, gathered along the crest.
Buggerru was the scenario of the tragic massacre, told by Dessì in Paese d’ombre, and commemorated by an elegant monument in memory to the miners that died, situated in the small square next to the port; here, more than elsewhere organisations in defence of mine workers were set up and a deep sense of class was developed.
Buggerru like Montevecchio was created and lived in around the mine and still today on walking along the paths and the lanes of the two quarters one is continuously reminded of the history of men, machines and hard grind. Fluminimaggiore has an amazing mountainous environmental patrimony that hides many mining sites of great importance, such as the Su Zurfuru mine and that of Gutturu Pala, in the proximity of the Su Pubusinu spring.
