Set on the southern-most part of su Monte, a verdant plains at an altitude of 400 m above sea level made of limestone tuff, surrounded on three sides by a lake, it looks like an indomitable natural fortress. An enchanting landscape provides the setting for Monteleone Rocca Doria, a tiny village in the northern Logudoro, an area once called Nurcara, just 40 km from both Alghero and Sassari. In the early XX century there were all of 450 inhabitants, little more than 100 of them official, actually 80, none of them young. In the Middle Ages it was the fiefdom of the Doria family, who built the castle and built the thick walls. The name, which first appeared in documents in 1364, recalls the origins that link it to the celebrated Genovese family. In 1436 it came under Aragonese dominion after a bloody battle that saw the town destroyed, only the churches were left standing.