SILIGO

Siligo is a town in north-western Sardinia located in the Logudoro region. It has a predominantly hilly territory, but there are also huge flat expanses and reliefs that reach a certain height. One of these is Mount Sant’Antonio, which overlooks the town with its almost 600 meters of altitude and is the northern offshoot of the vast plateau of Mount Pelao that extends over several towns of Logudoro.

The highest peak in Siligo is located in the south-eastern part of the territory, Mount Santo, which reaches 734 meters of elevation above sea level, and for a short stretch marks the border with Mores. Also to the east, but slightly further north, Siligo borders Ardara, and it is in this area that the largest plain is located, resulting from a land reclamation project that took place about a century ago, and which gives its name to the town, called precisely “Bonifica di Paule” (“Paule” which means “swamp”).

The long northern border of Siligo is with Ploaghe to the northeast, and is a region characterized by plateaus and wooded ridges mainly of cork oak, for a short stretch always to the north Siligo borders with Codrongianos, while to the northwest, in the vast plain of “Campo Lazzari”, the border is with the territory of Florinas. For the entire western part, Siligo borders with Banari, instead to the south Bessude and Bonnanaro complete the list of bordering territories.

A large part of wooded territory sees the presence of oaks, especially cork oaks, while some areas are exploited for olive growing, and sporadically viticulture. To the north of the town, you can find a curious cultivation by an illustrious writer of Siligo who decided to create a sort of botanical garden with numerous species of Mediterranean scrub both with arboreal and shrubby growth.

Siligo has a widespread hydrography, throughout the territory there are rivers, streams, fountains and springs, and even mineral waters with healing properties.

The state road 131 crosses the territory of Siligo from north to south, and positioning yourself to the north, looking towards the south you can see the two plateaus, Mount Santo and Mount Sant’Antonio, once united, but now furrowed by a valley formed by the erosion that has spared the two reliefs for their soil composition.

Another very interesting rock formation, always in the northern part of the territory, near “Mount Ruju”, in technical terms is called “dike”, and is formed by magmatic material from the same Mount Ruju, an extinct volcano, which is inserted into the cracks or fissures of the rock and which, solidifying, acquires a harder consistency than the surrounding rock. This rock can be subject to erosion due to atmospheric events, leaving the dike intact, which in Siligo has the shape of a wall about 250 meters long and which in some places can reach a height of 8, and is called “Su Muru ‘e Ferru” (the iron wall).

Not far from this location, along the state road 131 you come across various place names, such as “Ponte Molino” or “Pala Molino”, (Molino meanings “mill”) which give us a clear indication of what existed in these parts until recently, water mills that provided for the grinding of flour and in some cases also produced electricity.

A little further south is the “Mesu Mundu” region, where there are the remains of a church, a water source, the remains of a Roman aqueduct and a rest area.

A short distance from this area, in the locality of “S’Aspru” in a large complex of buildings originally built as a farmhouse, there is the headquarters of the voluntary association called “Mondo X Sardegna”, which for more than forty years has been involved in the fight against drug addiction, welcoming into its facilities those who are victims of addictions of various kinds, supporting those who need it with a rehabilitation program and reintroduction to society.

The town of Siligo seen from above has almost the shape of a crescent moon and is entirely crossed by the provincial road 23 that connects the town to Bessude on one side, and Banari and the state road 131 on the other. The same stretch of road inside the town is named after Francesco Cossiga, born in Sassari but from a family originated in Siligo.

In the same main road, in addition to the square and the Santa Vittoria panoramic viewpoint, there is the square dedicated to Maria Carta, singer-songwriter, writer, actress, political figure and university teacher originated in this town. The museum of the same name, located north of the town, is dedicated to this multifaceted artist.

Also in the northern part of the town is the panoramic viewpoint “Belvedere Su Runaghe”, a natural terrace that can be reached by going up a steep road and which enjoys an almost 360° view of the landscape below.

Near Maria Carta square there is one of the largest planetariums in Sardinia, and together with the astronomical observatory a few hundred meters from the town centre to the north, they make the town of Siligo an important centre of studies and research in this field, as well as being a place to visit for the public passionate about this subject.

Along the main road of Siligo there is the home of another famous local person, Gavino Ledda, known for having written several novels of which perhaps the most famous is “Padre Padrone”, a work translated into dozens of foreign languages, ​​and which was adapted to the screen also winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Several spellings of the name Siligo have been ascertained, especially in the “condaghe” (religious books) of San Nicola di Trullas and in that of San Michele di Salvennero, in which it is sometimes written as “Siloque”, “Siloce”, “Silogi”, “Silighis”, while today’s name, Siligo, has its first attestation around the middle of the 13th century, even though the other toponyms also continue to coexist over the years.

Some theories attribute the origin of the name starting from the root “Sil-” which means “watercourse”, which in fact are very present in the territory. Other scholars indicate as origin the Latin words “Siligo Ginis”, which indicate the products of the harvest, considered very valuable and abundant in these plains.

Until a few decades ago, the economy of the town was based on land cultivation, and wheat was widely used as the main crop. More recently, livestock farming has developed, and there are some fairly important farms. In Siligo, given the large presence of cork oak, there is also a decent economy based on this product, which is extracted and processed to obtain products such as corks and insulation materials.

In the industrial area of ​​Siligo there are several businesses that operate mainly in the construction sector, while a short distance from the town the floriculture sector is very active with greenhouses equipped for the purpose. The processing of red trachyte, a very common local stone, employs some craftsmen.

The tourism sector is quite active, with events and demonstrations on illustrious figures of the town, and with accommodation facilities that allow overnight stays.

The parish church of Siligo is the one dedicated to Santa Vittoria. It is located in the main street of the town and its construction dates back to the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, but it has undergone renovations in subsequent periods. The large façade has a central part in exposed blocks and two columns that extend across the entire height of the building and end with pinnacle terminals which are joined together by a curved upper cornice. The arched door is framed by two lateral semi-columns and an upper tympanum. Above it is a rectangular window. The two parts at the lateral ends of the façade are plastered. The interiors correspond to what can be seen externally on the façade, a large central nave, and two lateral naves. The roofs are barrel-vaulted and the various rooms are connected by arched openings.

A few dozen meters away from the parish church stands the oratory of Santa Croce, which dates back to the 17th century. It is a fairly simple structure with a façade in trachyte blocks, an arched door surmounted by a small rectangular window and a lateral bell gable. Inside, the single nave is divided by arches into three bays.

The rural churches in Siligo are more numerous than those inside the town, of some you can only see ruins, such as those of San Pietro, San Leonardo and San Bartolomeo, while others are very well preserved.

The oldest one dates back to the 6th century and is the Byzantine church of Santa Maria di Bubalis, or of Our Lady of (Nostra Signora di) Mesumundu, about 3 km from the town centre in a north-east direction. The structure has undergone changes over the centuries even if it retains the original construction materials, i.e. bricks alternating with basalt blocks. The main room is made up of a dome with openings in the upper part to let light in. The main tower, which has two small apses, has two rooms attached that probably had the function of side chapels, also equipped with windows.

A short distance from this, there is another very important place of worship for Siligo, the church of San Vincenzo Ferrer. The original structure should date back to around the 12th century and was the parish church of the disappeared village of Villanova. After several renovations and expansions, today we have a large building with an aesthetically simple gabled façade, a door framed by stone blocks and a large rose window above. A stone cross on top of the roof and a bell gable complete the front structure, while the side walls are supported by massive buttresses. The interiors are also very simple, in fact there is only one central nave.

The last country church in the Siligo area still used for its functions is the one on the Mount Santo plateau dedicated to Saints Elijah and Enoch. The original structure dates back to the second half of the 11th century and had a single nave, but after about a century it was decided to expand the structure by demolishing a side wall and adding a second nave so as to be able to dedicate a nave to each Saint. Externally, the facade, of extreme aesthetic simplicity, is completely plastered and has an arched door framed by stone blocks, and on the left a cross-shaped window. Inside, the naves are divided by arches into four bays.

The archaeological finds are very numerous and spread practically throughout the territory of Siligo. From north to south there are more than 25 nuraghi, of which the majority are single-tower, and one, the nuraghe “Conzattu”, is a complex structure, with a central tower, three lateral towers and a bastion. The state of conservation is not optimal, and the plan can only be seen marginally with most of the structure still to be excavated.

The area of ​​Mount Sant’Antonio is very interesting from an archaeological point of view, with two nuraghi, a sacred well, and the remains of an anthropic settlement. According to scholars, this is where the castle of Capula and the church of Sant’Antonio Abate were located, of which only ruins can be seen today.