Samatzai is a town of 1,600 inhabitants, a ‘gateway’ between the Campidano plain and the gentle undulations of the historic Trexenta territory. The traditional urban structure and architecture of the village are Trexentine in character: large two-story peasant-style houses surrounded by extensive courtyards, set in an authentic-looking historic center. They face each other in streets around the 15th-century parish church of St. John the Baptist, which houses ancient wooden statues of saints and a splendid 16th-century solid silver astylar cross. Also of value is the 17th-century church of St. Barbara with a small portal surmounted by a window and a bell gable. Also prominent in the historic center is the Monte Granatico, established in the 18th century, an interesting example of rural architecture, formerly a grain store, now a meeting hall. Also not to be missed is the museum “Sa Domu de su ferreri,” the house museum with adjoining blacksmith forge. The center was inhabited since Neolithic times, as evidenced by the domus de Janas in the necropolis at sa Rocca Pertunta locality. Of the later Bronze Age stands out the nuraghe su Nuraxi, in the locality of Domu is Abis, a complex nuraghe with a central keep and four side towers with an attached village of huts.
