Fra Locci, or more exactly Fra’Locci was a Capuchin, master mason, to whom is attributed the arrangement as a public spring, dating back to the 18th century, of a spring located about 2 kilometers from the village, now called Fra Locci Bècciu, which was remembered in the 19th century for the great use that was made of it by virtue of the excellent quality of its water. Around 1880 the aqueduct that brought water to the village was inaugurated, and for this purpose a beautiful public fountain, no longer present today, was erected in what is now Fra Locci Square, once called Cappuccinus Square. Opening a convent of Capuchin friars in Tortolì was Father Luigi da Nureci in 1721. The convent was closed in 1766 by the Royal Government and the buildings became municipal property. When the convent was closed, Fra Locci’s field was earmarked for the “roadìa” of the Monte Frumentario and then cultivated free of charge by the Tortolese people to provide the stock needed for the mountain itself. Beginning in the last years of the 18th century the convent was used as garrison quarters; it then became a cemetery in the first half of the 19th century under the name of the New Cemetery of St. Francis or of the Capuchins. In the last century, a dairy was established in the structures of the former Fra Locci convent, which was active until the 1950s. The convent complex has been abandoned for a long time, and at various times; in recent years it has undergone a building renovation that has converted it back into a theater.
