BESSUDE

Four km from Thiesi towards Siligo is the town of Bessude. A town that was born at lower part of “Mount Pelau”, and which presents a curious division of the town into two parts, on one side the historic center and on the other the new neighborhood called “Sa Sea”, built in the 70s and 80s. Mount Pelau represents the eastern border with the town of Bonnanaro, for a territory that extends in length up to “Mount Gherra” on the western border with Ittiri.

Bessude borders to the south with the territories of Borutta and Thiesi, but it is precisely with this latter town that there have been disputes over the exact delimitation of the borders for as long as 300 years and resolved only in 1930.

The territory of Bessude is characterized by valleys and plateaus in which woods and Mediterranean scrub alternate with territories used for grazing. The valley of “Pumari” is the counterpart of the plateau of Sa Sea, inside which there is the ancient forest called “Sa Silva”, the most famous and visited in the area. Worthy of note is the artificial lake of “Bidighinzu” built in the 50s to supply water to the city of Sassari.

The historic center of Bessude is very characteristic, with cobbled alleys where you can get lost among well-kept houses, squares, churches, but above all by being fascinated by the numerous murals that are found almost by chance in every street of the center. They represent scenes of daily life, for example a man driving a Vespa, or a beautiful mural that represents the gastronomic tradition of the town and one that shows women intent on preparing “gnocchetti”, an exclusive dish of Bessude. There is also another mural in memory of a tragedy that occurred in the town, which depicts a fire that then turned into a tragedy for poor Tonino Tanca, a young inhabitant of Bessude.

The birth of the name Bessude follows two theories.
The first would be the ancient nickname of the owner of the estate on which the village later arose, a certain Versute, which from Latin means cunning.

The second theory, instead, follows a more territorial line, that is, the two streams that flow from Mount Pelau where the first inhabitants settled, and which gave the place the name of “Bisundas” as the place of the two rivers precisely. The two rivers that cross the town are the “Mesu idda” stream and the “Inza ena” stream. The similarities of the two names are interesting, the one from the 12th century, Bessute, and the one from the 14th century with the form of Versute, of a very different meaning, up to the definitive name, Bessude, which was given to the town in the first part of the 1400s.

The economy of the town in the past was mainly based on livestock farming and agriculture. The breeding was especially of sheep, while the agriculture basically of cereals but also horticulture and olive groves. There are numerous olive groves that still characterize the landscape and the territory of Bessude.

Inside the town of Bessude we can find three churches: the oldest is that of San Leonardo, dating back to the 14th century, built in Gothic style. The church has a bell tower on the outside, while inside it is structured on three naves. Until the 19th century, this church also housed the town cemetery. Very particular is the fact that there are only two small windows that allow very little natural light to enter inside.

The church of Santa Croce is located at the entrance to the town. It dates back to the 17th century and is currently also used as an exhibition space.

Finally, the church of San Martino, built in 1620 in the center of the town to replace the church of San Leonardo, is composed of a central nave and two chapels on each side, on the left those dedicated to the Madonna Assunta and Sant’Antonio, on the right those dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and San Giuseppe, all embellished with valuable works of art. The patron saint of the community, San Martino, is also present inside the church, depicted on horseback while he divides his cloak in two with his sword, with an old man and a poor traveler.

Not far from the town, the most famous archaeological pearls of Bessude are the nuraghe “San Teodoro”, the so-called “Rughe de Sa pedra”, and the church of “Santa Maria de Runaghes”.

Also interesting is the fountain of “Funari”, in the locality of the same name, with the adjacent picnic area. The large boulder known as “su Crastu de Funari” (Funari’s rock) according to popular imagination was the home of the character “sa Rejusta”, a sort of witch who, according to legend, only came out on the night of 31 July. For her, the town criers of those times took care to warn the population not to leave their homes to avoid unpleasant encounters with this witch.

Almost on the border with the territory of Ittiri we can find the Domus de Janas of “Enas de Cannuias”, which are pre-Nuragic necropolises, seven hypogeal tombs dug into a block of tuff, not perfectly preserved, with pillars inside, vaults with sloping roofs, various decorations with interesting traces of colors, including the most famous “Tomb of the Carved Pillars”. This rectangular tomb has two pillars carved into the rock, the ceiling has a double slope, and the fake door that was carved and drawn into the rock is very interesting and symbolizes the passage from a world that is that of the living to that of the dead.