DH Lawrence was so enchanted by the town that he dedicated a chapter to it in his book "Sea and Sardinia" (1924): Sorgono is located right in the centre of the island, 700 metres above sea level on the western side of the Gennargentu, surrounded by woodlands of conifers, holm and downy oaks, chestnuts, hazelnuts and Mediterranean scrub, populated by mouflons, roe and fallow deer (in the santu Loisu nature reserve) and home to royal eagles and peregrine falcons. The town has a population of 1700 and is the hub of the Mandrolisai area, to the far south-west of the Barbagia region, a land of strongly rooted traditions and linguistic blends, where the local dialect is "di mezzo" Sardinian. The territory is marked by granite mountains sculpted by the wind and suggestive panoramas overlooking the Iscalas plateau, towards Serra Longa and the forests of Mount Littu and Uatzo, crisscrossed by trekking paths and the Trenino verde railway that starts in the town.