Monsignor Emanuele Virgilio was born in Venosa (PZ) on August 3, 1868. In 1891 he was ordained a priest and in May 1910 appointed bishop of Ogliastra. Always active in the town and attentive to the problem of labor, he tried to involve local landowners in an impre sa that was destined to be successful, the cultivation of tobacco and processing on site. He had the temperament not to break down in the face of initial difficulties and adversity. He purchased the necessary land, visible along Arbatax Avenue, and constructed the buildings for processing the product, which opened in 1920. The tobacco factory continued after Bishop Virgil’s death; sold to private individuals, bound by the complicated laws of the State Monopolies. These imposed very strict controls on the manufacturing companies, which reported to two plants in Cagliari and Sassari. The plant was run in the 1950s/60s by Eugenio Mulas and then by Salvatore Orrù. The premises are now used as the headquarters of the Vocational Training Center.
