SEMESTENE

The town of Semestene is located in north-western Sardinia and is part of the territory called “Logudoro”. It is easily accessible since it is less than 4 km from the main road artery of Sardinia, the state road 131, and also from the provincial capital, Sassari, it is just over 50 km away. It is a predominantly hilly territory that borders to the north with Cossoine, from which it is delimited for a certain stretch by two rivers, the “Riu Alchennero” and the “Riu Androliga”, both toponyms also of a large valley the first, and of a cave the second.

The collective imagination speaks of this cave as a magical place, which is located near the river of the same name and has a fairly wide entrance that leads to a very large room at the beginning and funnel-shaped as you proceed towards the inside. The narrowest point also includes a sort of corridor that leads to a second smaller room and from where you can see the flow of a stream that probably flows as a tributary into a larger river.

The eastern border of Semestene is entirely with the territory of Bonorva and is characterized by an alternation of plateaus and valleys that then lead, in the south-east, to the Campeda plateau, which, with its approximately 650 meters of altitude, corresponds to the highest altimetric point of the entire territory. The plateau, of basaltic origin, is the result of volcanic eruptions of which today remain stone boulders of more or less large sizes consumed by the erosion of time, and is characterized by oak forests, especially downy oaks.

The vast Campeda plateau continues south extending to the territory of Macomer, from which Semestene is entirely divided by the river “Riu Temo”, one of the most important waterways in the entire north-western region of Sardinia. For a short stretch to the south, and precisely in the south-west vertex, the territory of Semestene shares the border with Pozzomaggiore and Sindia, and it is precisely in the latter municipality, a few meters from the border, that one of the best-preserved Roman bridges in the entire area is located, the “Ponte Oinu”.

The list of territorial borders ends with the entire western portion, also characterized by an alternation of valleys and hills, which form the border with Pozzomaggiore.

Throughout the territory of Semestene there are numerous watercourses, some that give rise to springs and fountains, others that flow as tributaries towards more important rivers. And the strong presence of water is highlighted by various toponyms given to places in the territory, such as “Paule Maiore”, “Funtana Cana”, “Funtana ‘e Frassos”, (“paule” meaning “swamp”, and “funtana” meaning “fountain”) and so on.

The Campeda plateau is also a place rich in nuraghi, thanks to its conformation from which it was possible, and still is, to dominate and control the valley below in the direction of today’s town, the territories of Pozzomaggiore and beyond.

The town of Semestene is located on the slopes of a hill and forms a sort of amphitheatre around the two main churches, the church of Santa Croce which no longer exists and the church of San Giorgio which is instead the parish of the town.

To the south of the town passes the provincial road 8 which connects Semestene with the state road 131 to the east, with the town of Pozzomaggiore to the west, and with several municipalities in the province of Nuoro to the south.

The town is instead characterized by a very developed road network, by several green areas, by an amphitheatre that functions as an open-air auditorium where musical events often take place.

Among the services offered to the community are the post office, the pharmacy, the swimming pool and the municipal gardens, a camper parking area, and large indoor spaces that serve as social aggregation centres.

The toponym Semestene is found in several documents dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, but in the same period the name “Semeston” was also quite widespread. The following centuries also saw other variants of the toponym, including “Semestenes” and “Semestona”.

A legend says that the name derives from a question in the Sardinian language that a foreigner who passed by the village continually repeated to the inhabitants. The question was “semenes tenes?” (do you have any seeds?), and this sort of litany became so fixed in the minds of the locals that they gave the name “Semestenes” to the village, later reduced to “Semestene” with the elimination of the final consonant.

The economy of Semestene has always been based to a greater extent on agriculture and livestock breeding.
As for agriculture, the wheat crops of the past now leave room for pastures and sporadic lands cultivated with vineyards and olive groves.
Livestock farming is almost exclusively sheep and cattle for both milk and meat production.

The parish church of Semestene is dedicated to San Giorgio, it is located in the centre of the town and its original structure dates back to the 12th century, but it was restored around the 1720s. The façade, in exposed limestone blocks, is embellished with four semi-columns that run the entire height ending in a gabled roof embellished with a cornice that follows its shape. The square door is also embellished with lateral semi-columns and an upper tympanum, while a rectangular window placed above a cornice, which runs along the entire façade in a horizontal line, allows light to enter the church. On the left, a square-section bell tower ending with a spire completes the exterior architecture of the building. A wide staircase leads to the interior where there is a room with a single nave divided by arches into four bays and with several side chapels, three on the left and four on the right side.

Not far from the parish church we find the remains of another place of worship that was once the church of Santa Croce. The original church in Romanesque style according to some sources must have dated back to the 12th century, but about four centuries later it was enlarged and renovated. The building was built of stone and had a gabled façade with a square door embellished with columns and an architrave, the side walls were supported by buttresses, on the left side stood a small bell gable, while on the right side there was a second smaller entrance also embellished with stone decorations. The interior had a single nave divided by arches into three bays. The precarious structural conditions that put the safety of both the building and the surrounding area at risk led to the demolition of the church in 1967, and today all that remains is the base from which its original plan can be seen, and recently, in the small square created by the demolition of the building, the decorated stone frames of the two portals have been placed side by side.

The only country church that has remained almost intact in the territory of Semestene is located less than 3 km from the town centre to the west and is that of San Nicola di Trullas. Nearby we can still see a part of the construction plan of the monastery and the structures that were once annexed to it, such as the cloister, the well, and other rooms used in the past, and which were destroyed by a fire around the 14th century. The church certainly existed since the beginning of the 12th century, since there is evidence of its donation to the monks coming from Camaldoli thanks to a document dating back to the year 1113. The building was constructed with blocks of limestone and exposed trachyte and has a rectangular plan with a final apse. The façade is framed by two semi-columns placed at the two ends that develop in height ending with the upper tympanum. The lower part of the façade is rather simple and features a square door in the centre with a small hollowed out arch above it. The upper part of the façade is much more complex aesthetically, decorated with four columns resting on a cornice and forming five small arches. The arch motif is also repeated in the upper cornices of the side walls and the apse behind. The interior of the church features a single room divided by a central arch into two spans with a cross vault decorated with wonderful frescoes that refer to the book of the Apocalypse. The internal side walls were also originally intended to be completely frescoed, but today only a few traces of these elements of decorative beauty remain.

In the territory of Semestene there are other country churches, but all are now in ruins.

The closest to the town is the church of San Michele, which is located about 1 km from the town in a southerly direction. The construction was in blocks of trachyte and limestone, but the scarcity of findings does not allow us to trace a possible original structure and what must have been found in the surrounding area.

More or less equidistant from this church is the church of Santa Giusta, located on the side of a hill in an easterly direction with respect to the town. Near the building there are also remains of a settlement dating back to the Roman era due to the numerous ceramics found. The ruins of the church include blocks of limestone and trachyte that once formed a building of modest dimensions.

About 6 km from the town in a south-westerly direction we find the church of Santa Maria di Sansa, dating back to the medieval era, and built with limestone and trachyte stones. Near the building, several structures and masonry works have been found, as well as a sacred well of considerable importance for that particular historical period. From the church, a good part of the perimeter walls can be seen, which allows us to understand its original structure.

The last country church in the territory of Semestene is located about 12 km from the town in a south-westerly direction, almost on the border with the territory of Sindia, and is the ruin of the old church of San Giorgio, of which very little remains, nothing but a part of a perimeter wall that does not allow us to decipher a real building plan.

As regards the archaeological emergencies that can be found in the territory of Semestene, there are 3 hypogeal necropolises in the northern and central part of the territory and they are those in the localities of “Androliga”, “Tocco de Iscala” and “Funtana ’e Bulla”. These are modest-sized tombs, in fact, the first two consist of 2 rooms each, while the last has 3.

The nuraghi are instead in greater number, over 15 if we also count the more complex Nuragic settlements. Many towers were erected on the slopes of the plateau that from Campeda looks towards the north-western valleys, thus fulfilling a defensive function and control of the territory.

A beautiful example of a complex nuraghe is the one in the locality of “Iscolca”, characterized by 3 towers still largely visible and the remains of huts and human settlements nearby. The “Codes” nuraghe is also of significant importance both for its trilobate structure (with three towers), but also for the ceramic remains found that testify to its use even in later eras, especially the Roman period.