ESPORLATU

LOCATION AND TERRITORY
Located in central-northern Sardinia, Esporlatu is part of the Goceano region. Its territory has a rather irregular shape that extends transversally from north-west to south-east.
Different altitudes mean that Esporlatu contains all the territorial characteristics within the same municipality: mountainous, hilly and plain. The northernmost region, with reliefs ranging from about 730 to 961 meters above sea level of the highest peak, that of Monte San Martino, is known precisely as the “Montes” region. It is here that there are oak forests, especially holm oaks, mixed with various species of Mediterranean scrub, which once favoured the agropastoral economy both for the presence of acorns and of firewood itself for heating homes.
The central part of the territory, where the town was built, has hilly characteristics, more suitable for the cultivation of fruit trees, vineyards and olive groves, with altitudes that slope towards the south-east, in the region known as “Su Campu”, used for grazing and which reaches the lowest altimetric limit of about 200 meters above sea level in the short stretch of border with the territory of Bottidda marked entirely by the Tirso river.
Esporlatu borders to the north, east, up to the south-east with the territory of Burgos, and in this last stretch a watercourse called “Riu Mulinu”, a tributary of the Tirso, acts as a natural border. The long border that goes from the north-west, west, and south is instead with the territory of Illorai.
There are several watercourses present in the territory, and they are uniformly distributed from north to south.
THE TOWN
The town of Esporlatu is surrounded by communication routes, with the provincial road 111 to the north and via Europa to the south. It is also crossed by the street via Brigata Sassari which from the north-east leads to the historic centre near the parish church of San Gavino and not far from piazza San Sebastiano, where the church dedicated to the Saint once stood and demolished in the 70s of the last century due to its precarious structural conditions.
This was the original historic centre, where you can still see narrow, paved streets and houses of more modest dimensions if compared to the new ones built more recently with the expansion of the town towards the north-east.
Some murals embellish the streets of the town centre, while there are two main squares in the town, where much of the social life also takes place.
ORIGINS AND HISTORY
The oldest archaeological finds date the first human presence in the territory of Esporlatu to the Nuragic age, from which some tombs of the giants and about fifteen nuraghi have come down to us, some of which are also in good condition.
There is no useful evidence from subsequent historical periods that can help us understand the evolution of residential settlements in this territory, and to have some information we must go back to the medieval period, in which there is talk of a village existing in the locality of “Su Miale”, a little further south of where the current town of Esporlatu is located.
The impetus for the construction of the village of Esporlatu came thanks to the construction of the Goceano castle, around the 30s of the 12th century, which is just a few hundred meters from the town centre.
This village was born precisely to house the Pisan workers assigned to the construction of the castle, who, once the construction was finished, abandoned the village. Taking advantage of a more favourable position, and with buildings already available, the inhabitants of the village in the locality of “Su Miale” decided to move a little further north, settling in what later became the current town of Esporlatu.
In the Condaghi (ecclesiastical books) of San Michele di Salvennor and San Pietro di Silki there are some attestations of donation that report the names of “Sperlato” and “Sporlato” around the middle of the 12th century; therefore, it could almost certainly be said that the village already existed at that time.
During the period of the Giudicati, the territory of Esporlatu fell under the curatoria (district) of Goceano, within the Giudicato of Torres. The position of the village certainly did not favour the stability and security of its inhabitants who found themselves having to face the dangers and attacks of the invaders who wanted to take possession of the castle of Goceano from time to time.
The defence of the castle and the village itself continued until the death of Adelasia, the last chief of Torres, in 1259. After her, these territories became the object of conquest of the Genoese Doria family and subsequently of the Giudicato of Arborea. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Spanish presence on the island, considered a land of conquest, was slowly becoming more and more marked, and it was precisely in these territories, thanks to the presence of the Goceano castle, that the chief of Arborea Mariano IV settled, considered a prominent figure both for this geographical region and for the whole of Sardinia.
After the death of Mariano IV, it was his daughter Eleonora who kept the defences of the Giudicato of Arborea high, but unfortunately Eleonora was the last chief able to fight the frequent invasions. After her death in 1402, Eleonora had no successors of her calibre and little by little the Giudicato of Arborea experienced a decline that led to its end in 1420, the year in which the Spanish conquest of the whole of Sardinia was completed, and which lasted for about three centuries until the arrival on the island of the Savoy family in 1720.
From an administrative point of view there were no major changes compared to the Spanish domination, the lands continued to be divided into large fiefdoms, assigned to important feudal lords, and with the resident farmers forced to work there in exchange for a subsistence economy. The situations of famine, accompanied by precarious health conditions and illnesses, at the beginning of the 19th century led to peasant revolts that culminated in 1820 with the edict of the “chiudende” issued by Vittorio Emanuele I which marked the beginning of private land ownership.
About twenty years later, King Carlo Alberto completely abolished feudalism, but for the inhabitants of Esporlatu the situation did not change much, they did not rush to grab as much land as possible by fencing off their properties, but they managed to peacefully coexist and work respectfully with each other without needing the infamous dry stone walls to delimit their farms, which were instead springing up in the four corners of Sardinia.
In 1928, the fascist regime issued a decree merging the town of Esporlatu with that of Burgos, on which it depended administratively, and it was only in 1946 that Esporlatu regained its independence.
THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME
The oldest written attestation of the name of this town is found in the Condaghe of San Pietro di Silki in which a person from “Isporlathu” is mentioned, to indicate his origin. In the various documents that have followed one another over time, different names of this village are found, including “Sporlachu”, “Sporlato”, “Sporlatu”, while the first written trace where the name of Esporlatu is found dates back to 1847.
As for its etymology, one theory derives it from the name “ispòrula”, which means “wild vine”, with obvious reference to a strong presence of this plant in the territory. A second theory instead makes the word Esporlatu similar to “exported”, with a reference to the historical period in which the inhabitants of the village in the locality “su Miale” moved further north, founding the village that gave rise to today’s town.
ECONOMY
The economy of Esporlatu was once based on agriculture and livestock farming, today the latter is predominant with a strong presence of both sheep and cattle.
There are not many companies in other sectors present in the town, also given the proximity to other larger municipalities and which therefore see a movement of workers as employees and workers throughout the Goceano territory or in the provincial capitals.
FESTIVALS AND FAIRS
The Patron Saint of Esporlatu is San Gavino Martyr, who is celebrated on 25 October with religious celebrations that include mass in the parish church followed by a procession of the faithful through the streets of the town, at the end of which refreshments are offered to the population.
The calendar of celebrations in Esporlatu opens on 16 and 17 January with the celebrations for Sant’Antonio, who in the town is called “Sant’Antoni de su fogu” (of the fire). This is because on the 16th evening a committee formed almost exclusively by people with the same name as the Saint prepares a large bonfire that is lit in the evening and around which prayers are recited and the Saint is thanked together in a moment of conviviality, with refreshments offered to the population who participated in the celebrations.
The second Sunday of May is the day of celebrations in honour of Sant’Isidoro, considered the patron saint of farmers, but also of shepherds. The religious celebrations include a mass in the parish church followed by a procession of the faithful through the streets of the town who accompany the Saint both on foot and on horseback, but also with tractors and flower-bedecked and decorated carts, which will then be blessed as a wish for good harvests. The civil celebrations instead include shows and musical and folk events accompanied by gastronomic and artisanal exhibitions with a reference to the rural nature that characterizes the festival itself.
The last festival in chronological order is the one celebrated on 13 December of each year in honour of Saint Lucia. In the past there was also a country church dedicated to the Saint, but the celebrations are held within the town, and include, in addition to religious events, also moments of conviviality for the faithful who join in the prayers. The civil celebrations often include evenings of music and performances by folk groups.
Another festival deeply felt by the inhabitants of Esporlatu is the one in honour of Saint Anthony of Padua, celebrated on 13 June. The peculiarity of this festival is that it takes place in the town of Ottana, and legend has it that the statue of the Saint was taken from Esporlatu and brought to Ottana during some vicissitudes, but the inhabitants of Esporlatu, feeling it as theirs anyway, go to Ottana every year to honour and carry on the celebrations that were once typical of their town. Tradition also calls it “the ride of Ottana” since in the past it was customary to travel between the two towns on horseback.
GASTRONOMY
The traditional cuisine of Esporlatu is strongly based on products from livestock and agriculture.
Among the typical dishes, in addition to “Gnocchetti” and “Ravioli”, which are also very common in other parts of Sardinia, we find the so-called “Piscadura”, which consists of a broth that mainly has broad beans and lard, but to which other ingredients can also be added, such as pieces of meat.
Another meat-based dish is boiled sheep in broth, very common in these parts. Fennel is also used in many culinary preparations, especially accompanied by lard and broad beans.
As for desserts, depending on the ceremonies, some are prepared rather than others. For example, for Sant’Antonio, “Telicas” are prepared above all, while for other celebrations “Papassinos” are prepared, for carnival for example we find “Orulettas”, and “Cattas”, and so on.
CHURCHES AND ARCHAEOLOGY
The parish church of Esporlatu is dedicated to San Gavino the martyr and is located in the northern part of the town. The original structure of the sanctuary must have dated back to the medieval period, more precisely to the time of the construction of the Goceano castle, commissioned by Gonario, the chief of the Giudicato of Torres in the early 30s of the 12th century. The chief, since the castle itself did not have a place of prayer within its walls, used the small church of San Gavino as a palatine chapel, that is, as a private chapel for the exclusive use of the sovereign.
According to some studies, the church was modified, if not even rebuilt in the early 17th century, while to find the first written attestations on the building we have to wait until the second half of the 18th and 19th centuries in which there is talk of a sanctuary in precarious structural conditions, for which improvement works were required. The reconstruction of the building took place in the early years of the last century with the plan that can be seen today, while a recent restoration has given us a church with exposed stone walls that alternate with plastered walls, as is the bell tower itself.
The gabled façade is in exposed granite stones, and the large arched door is framed by blocks also in granite, as is the arched window above. The motifs of exposed stone and openings framed by granite blocks are also repeated on the side walls.
The square-based bell tower is now plastered and with the upper part having slits that house the bells and culminating in an apical pyramid with a cross on top.
Inside it is composed of a single nave divided by arches into three bays, there are also two chapels on each side.
The second place of worship in the Esporlatu area is located about 2 km from the town in a south-east direction and is the country church of Santa Barbara. In reality, this church is an unfinished work built in blocks and of which today only the side walls can be seen, but there is no roof. This construction dates back to the 60s of the last century and takes the place of an ancient pre-existing church that was demolished due to its precarious structural conditions.
A church that no longer exists but is still present in the memories of the inhabitants is that of San Sebastiano. The church dates back to the second half of the 18th century and for a certain period it was also the parish church given the unavailability of the church of San Gavino. As time passed, the church of San Sebastiano was used less and less for its functions and progressively abandoned, until for safety reasons, given the continuous collapses and subsidence, it was decided to demolish it completely around the 70s of the last century. In its place today there is a small square that maintains the same name and that with its shapes helps to maintain the memory of the pre-existing place of worship.
The archaeological sites in the territory of Esporlatu include about fifteen nuraghi and a tomb of the giants. Most of them are located in the northern part of the territory and the best known and best preserved is the nuraghe “Erismanzanu”. It is a single-tower nuraghe that reaches a height of 8 meters and is particular because there is a large holm oak that emerges from the upper part. Inside there is a corridor and a staircase that leads to the upper floors, several niches and a rather large and well-preserved main room, of which you can still appreciate the central fireplace.
ON THE TERRITORY
Nuraghe Erismanzanu
Nuraghe Iscra Longa
Nuraghe Monte S. Martine
Nuraghe Orrios
Nuraghe Pattada e Casu
Nuraghe Sos Casales
USEFUL NUMBERS
PHARMACY CULEDDU
Via Brigata Sassari, 34
Tel.
POLICE OR CARABINIERI STATION
Stazione di Burgos
Via Marconi, 4 – BURGOS
Tel. 079 793502
TOWN HALL
P.zza Dante, 1
Tel. 079 793538
PETROL STATION GS SolinaService
S.P. 10m Km 48,01 – BOTTIDDA
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