COSSOINE

Located in the north-west of Sardinia, Cossoine is easily reachable from the state road 131, in fact it is only 2.5 km away.

The town is built on a hill, but from it the territory slopes down to the more well-known plain of “Campu Giavesu”, which, despite its name, for a good portion territorially is part of Cossoine. The territory has a high altimetric range with the lowest point being about 160 meters above sea level, and the highest point being about 720 meters. It is the basaltic massif of “Mount Traessu”, with gorges, cliffs, and mixed forests mainly of oaks, which is considered an important tourist destination for its various routes, including the natural waterfalls in the “Sos Istrampos” area, which attract a large number of visitors especially in spring.

Cossoine borders to the north with Giave, Thiesi, Cheremule and Romana, to the east with Giave and Bonorva, to the south with Semestene, and finally to the west with Monteleone Roccadoria, Pozzomaggiore, Mara and Padria.

About 1 km from the town in a southerly direction we find a chasm that since the medieval period was the subject of beliefs and legends, and which seems in that period to indicate the door to hell. But not only that, the ancient story that has been handed down to the present day says that adulterous women, those who had children out of wedlock, and old people who could no longer pay taxes, and were therefore considered a burden by society, were thrown into this infamous chasm. This is the so-called chasm of “Su Mammuscone”, an imaginary place used not only in Cossoine but also in the surrounding area to wish someone bad luck.

The town is crossed by Sardinian north-western state road 292, and it is precisely around it that the town developed. The church of “San Sebastiano”, the church of “Santa Chiara”, but also the small square in front of the church of “Santa Croce” are all near the main road. Not far from it is the municipal amphitheater, and the ancient “Monte Granatico”, established at the end of 1600, was nothing more than a warehouse where seeds were first stored and then distributed to the farmers who needed them most in a certain agricultural year, with the promise that they would be returned in the future.

The historic center of Cossoine is full of alleys and streets where you can get lost admiring the numerous murals of varying sizes that depict characters and daily life in the town.

The etymology of the name Cossoine starts from a base that identifies Corsica, suggesting that it was people from the nearby island who founded the ancient village. The original word “Corsein” has undergone some evolutions, losing the “r”, but doubling the “s”, until adding a final “e”, and transforming the central “e” into an “o”.

The economy of the village is supported largely by sheep and cattle breeding. At one time there were also cheese factories, a kaolin quarry and a basalt quarry, as well as the furnaces that were used to produce lime, while today many activities have moved to the industrial settlement of “Campu Giavesu”.

The town’s patron saint is celebrated in the parish dedicated to Santa Chiara. Built at the end of the 1500s and then expanded around 1700. Built in late Gothic style, it is characterized by a portal with an arch and decorated lintel, with two small columns at the ends of the arch that rise upwards. Inside, the church has a single nave and is divided lengthwise by three arches that form three bays, on the sides of which there are chapels to venerate other saints.

In front of a large square in the center of the town stands the church of Santa Croce. Built around the middle of the 17th century, it is today mainly used as an oratory.

The third church that we find inside the town is the one built in honor of San Sebastiano towards the end of the 1500s. Inside we find a central nave divided by arches into three bays.

About 6 km from the town, in a northwest direction, stands the church of Santa Maria Iscalas. Different researchers attribute different ages of construction of the church ranging from the 6th century to the 11th century. Some construction elements could date the church back to the Romanesque period, therefore between the 10th and 11th centuries, however the lack of some characteristics such as, for example, the decorations that were very common in the Romanesque period led to the belief that the current building was the work of remodeling a pre-existing building dating back to the Byzantine period. It should also be added that some findings of artefacts in the vicinity of the church would suggest previous human settlements, even dating back to prehistory. About 500 meters from the church stands the nuraghe with the same name.

It is also on the plain that you can see three other of the best known nuraghes of Cossoine, nuraghe “Accas”, nuraghe “Corruoes”, and nuraghe “Aidu”. It is precisely these last two nuraghes that give the name to a larger nuragic complex called “Aidu-Corruoes”, which also includes a tomb of the giants and a small village.

The territory of Cossoine also has another very interesting site, unique in terms of length in the province of Sassari, it is the cave known as “sa Ucca ’e Peltusu” over 3 km long, two entrances, crossed in some places by water, and developed on various levels.