According to legend, Ollolai is said to have been the residence of Ospitone, dux of the Barbarians, so acknowledged in an official letter (594 AD) from Pope Gregory the Great, who asked him for help in encouraging his people to convert. In Judicial times, the center was the seat of a curatorate. Today, populated by 1,500 inhabitants, it gives its name to the historic territory of which it is the main center, Barbagia di Ollolai. The asphodel, which colors the nearby countryside, is raw material for the art of weaving. You can admire the baskets made by the skilled hands of Ollolai women in the exhibition de s’iscrarionzu. During Autunno in Barbagia it is possible to witness the encounters of an ancient fight, s’istrumpa, perhaps of Nuragic origin. Ollolai is distinguished by granite houses with dark stone portals, arranged around the parish church of San Michele Arcangelo, once Gothic-Aragonese, then remodeled several times. The patron saint is celebrated twice a year: in early May and late September. In mid-January, during the fires of St. Anthony the Abbot, wine and the typical sweet, su pistiddu, are offered. The feast of St. Bartholomew, in late August, is the most heartfelt. In July, the donkey palio sees the town’s five historic districts compete.
The settlement, surrounded by green Mediterranean scrub, oaks, yews and centuries-old holm oaks and watered by a myriad of springs, climbs almost 1,000 meters above sea level on the slopes of Mount Santu Basili. At the top stands the church of San Basilio Magno, built in the Byzantine era and rebuilt in the 20th century. Trachyte ashlars from the original layout were reused for the cumbessias, accommodations for pilgrims that surround the building. The saint is celebrated on September 1, New Year’s Day in the Byzantine calendar. In the archaeological park of Santu Basili reside the roots of Ollolai. The earliest human traces are from the Middle Neolithic (4000 B.C.), in tombs dug into tafoni and shelters under rock, such as sa Conca frabica, used until the Iron Age. Near the church stand the remains of a nuragic village. The area is dotted with other nuraghi and the settlement of su Triqinzu,. All around stand other granite peaks that exceed 1100 meters, including su Nodu de s’Aschisorgiu (treasure rocks) and the ‘window of Sardinia’: from here, with a clear sky, the view reaches as far as the sea, to the east and west of the island.
Source: Ollolai | SardegnaTurismo – Official tourism website of the Region of Sardinia
