Anglona

The territory that faces onto the gulf of the Asinara is naturally characterised by evocative coasts due to the constant alternation of beaches and rocky points. The main town of the territory is undoubtedly Castelsardo, built in the 12th century, by commission of the Genoese family of the Dorias, on a spur of rock with a sheer cliff into the sea that laps the gulf. The fortification walls were built in the same era along with the castle, the centre of an interesting weaving museum, that is today devoted to the art of basket weaving which is particularly developed in the area.

Proceeding instead towards its centre, we find Romanesque churches, built by the monks who were invited during medieval epoch to take office on the island: thus, Nostra Signora di Tergu (11th century) in reddish trachyte and white limestone, not far from town centre; then Santa Maria Maddalena in Chiaramonti, San Pietro delle Immagini in Bulzi, and San Giorgio in Perfugas.

The territory has been inhabited since the early Palaeolithic, as the finds found in the area of Perfugas prove, but archaeological wealth also resides in the numerous domus de janas, and in one in particular: la Roccia dell’elefante (the rock of the elephant), in Castelsardo, a trachyte rock that recalls the form of the large mammal, inside which the sepulchral burrows were dug.

In addition, the Nuragic culture is testified by numerous monuments such as the sacred well temple of Predio Canopoli, with a circular underground room from which water was taken.
The whole territory was then also densely inhabited during Roman times and is a predominantly pastoral area, characterised by the presence of the remains of a petrified forest.