BURGOS

Located in central-northern Sardinia, in the region known as Goceano, the territory of Burgos extends as a long, and rather narrow, strip of land in a transverse direction from north-west to south-east.

Burgos is considered a predominantly mountainous territory, especially in the northern and central portion, with all the reliefs exceeding 700 meters above sea level, and which progressively increase in altitude towards the south until reaching the highest elevation in the 1027 meters of the mountains in the localities of “Mela cugada” and “sa Ucca ’e Padronu”.

From this maximum elevation the territory slopes towards the south-east, where the inhabited centre is located, built at about 600 meters above sea level, and until reaching the southern border, which is part of the upper Tirso valley, where it is precisely this watercourse that marks the south-eastern border with the territory of Bottidda. It is here that the lowest altimetric point of the entire territory of Burgos is reached, at 207 meters above sea level. And it is precisely Bottidda that is the municipality with which Burgos shares most of its borders. These embrace the territory of Burgos from the northwest, north, and continue along its entire length to the territorial extremity to the southeast, where a good part of the border is made by the river “Rio Nicola Nae”, which flows into the river Tirso.

For a short stretch, the western border of Burgos is with the territory of Illorai, while from west to south and southeast, Burgos borders with Esporlatu. It is another tributary of the river Tirso, the “Rio Molinu”, which marks a long stretch of the border with this latter town.

The differences in altitude of Burgos give us very varied territorial characteristics with dense forests of oaks, chestnuts, conifers and other species belonging to the Mediterranean scrub present above all in the northern part of the territory, such as in the characteristic locality of “Montes”, and flat and more easily cultivable expanses in the southern portion, called instead “Su Campu”.

In the northern part of the territory of Burgos there is a compendium called “Foresta di Burgos”, whose name was given for obvious reasons, due to the presence of dense forests of oaks, chestnuts, yews, and various needle-like species, and which has considerable historical importance. After the unification of Italy in 1861, it was realized that, if compared to other European nations, in Italy there was a scarcity of culture, knowledge, and structures in the equine sector. The horse served both as a driving force for work in the fields, and as an important means of military defence, and in this the nation was in strong deficit. It was therefore decided to establish suitable centres to satisfy this lack, called Royal Horse Breeding Deposits, in order to select, prepare and breed horse breeds that could satisfy both the civilian and military needs of that time.

The Foresta complex was born towards the end of the 1880s and experienced continuous growth both as a horse breeding farm and as a human presence, which saw, in addition to the military, also numerous civilians living there in the built structures, including a church and schools, and which had given rise to a real village, which around the middle of the last century came to exceed 400 inhabitants. Today only the ruins of the village remain, and the only inhabitants of this place continue to be the horses.

Seen from above, the town of Burgos has the shape of a crescent, whose lower tip is marked by the symbol of both this town and the entire Goceano, the castle. Built on a rocky hill overlooking the valley below, today it appears as an irregular structure whose remains of the fortification walls enclose a square-plan tower, several rooms intended for residential use, and the ruins of a cistern used to collect rainwater.

It is right at the foot of the castle that the town originated, and it is precisely this part that characterizes the historic centre, with narrower streets and leaning housing structures. The expansion of Burgos occurred towards the north with more regular road networks and buildings of larger dimensions established following the contour lines of the hills that host the town.

Not far from the castle, there is the “Museum of the Castles”, which is spread over three floors and offers visitors both temporary and permanent exhibitions, representing scenes of life, especially of daily rural life, and a very interesting section on the geographical maps used in the past by the Spanish. Finally, there is a new multimedia section that allows you to admire glimpses of past life thanks to realistic three-dimensional reproductions.

In the centre of the town is the main square, in front of the parish church dedicated to Sant’Antonio Abate.

Walking through the narrow streets of the village, you can notice ancient stone buildings alternating with more modern buildings and brighter colours, fountains and gardens, interspersed with the various economic activities present especially in the main streets, but with the omnipresent castle in the background dominating the entire town.

The name of the town derives from the Latin “Burgus”, which in turn should derive from the Greek word meaning fortress, indicating a fortified village or city with the presence of a castle.

The economy of Burgos is strongly linked to the products of the land, with livestock farming, especially sheep, outgrowing agriculture, which was once much more flourishing. The Foresta Burgos complex today hosts a mounted police detachment, which also employs several civilian employees.

The construction sites managed by the Forestas Agency, a regional body that deals with forestry and greenery maintenance, also contribute to the country’s economy. 

From a tourism point of view, the Burgos castle attracts numerous visitors curious to learn about the almost thousand-year history of this fortress. Activities related to tourism also include an important educational farm where you can appreciate ancient and modern crafts linked to the rural nature of the area, such as milking and cheesemaking.

The parish church of Burgos is dedicated to Sant’Antonio Abate and is located in the main square of the town, not far from the historic centre. Originally it was a modest-sized church built at the beginning of the 17th century, while the current structure is the result of renovations and expansions that took place around the 1820s.

The gabled façade, aesthetically very simple, plastered and painted white, has a higher part in the centre corresponding to the central nave, with a square door embellished with two semi-columns on the sides and an architrave, above which there is a semicircular oculus.

The bell tower is located on the left side behind the façade, has a square plan and is made of exposed stone blocks that end in a pyramidal shape at the top.

Inside, the church has a single central nave with four arches corresponding to the side chapels, three on the left side and four on the right side.

The church of Sant’Antonio Abate is today the only place of worship within the town, while in the past, right near the same parish church, there was also the church dedicated to San Leonardo, who is the patron saint of Villanova Monteleone, the town from which the first families who contributed to the birth of the village of Burgos arrived.

The second church in the territory of Burgos is located about 12 km from the town in the hamlet of Foresta Burgos and is dedicated to San Salvatore. The building dates back to the end of the 19th century and a plaque on a wall gives us the exact indication of the years of its construction, 1889-1890.

The building was built in neo-medieval style with exposed blocks of red trachyte alternating with blocks of pink trachyte and has a gabled façade with an arched decoration in the upper part, below which there is a rose window embellished with wrought iron elements and also framed by exposed stone, which surmounts a small canopy with the function of protecting the arched door below.

The Art Nouveau bell tower is located on the left side on the back side of the façade. It has an octagonal plan and starting from the upper half there are two levels of openings, with the four upper openings housing the bells, and which end with an apical cusp and an iron cross.

The side walls have two large, mirrored oculi corresponding to the altar, and two other openings, an arched window on the left side and an arched door on the right side, allow light to enter the church. The interior has a single room, a wooden mezzanine above the entrance door that once housed the organ that accompanied the songs of the mass, while other elements in wrought iron and wood contribute to the embellishment of this small country sanctuary.

The hamlet of Foresta Burgos and its surroundings are rich in archaeological finds that testify to the human presence in this territory since the Neolithic era.

The complex called “S’Unighedda” includes domus de Janas, a tomb of the giants, and even a nuraghe. But probably the most interesting Nuragic complex in the Burgos area, just south of the “S’Unighedda” complex, is the nuraghe “Sa Costa”, also known as “Sa Reggia”. It is a complex nuraghe made up of a central tower and four secondary towers joined by corridors, walls, courtyards, and with the remains of a surrounding village that included at least 40 huts.

These and other important archaeological sites make this territory, rich in history but also in legends, an absolute must-see place, immersing yourself in a thousand-year-old past that can still be appreciated today.