What to see in Santa Teresa di Gallura, where it is located, what to visit between beaches and cliffs, excursions to do in the Maddalena Archipelago.
Tourist information
Santa Teresa di Gallura is a town located on a promontory on the northern coast of Sardinia, facing Corsica overlooking the Straits of the Bocche di Bonifacio.
Originally the town was known by the name of Longosardo, it was called Santa Teresa di Gallura by Vittorio Emanuele I of Savoy, who founded the town, designed the plant and chose the name in honor of the patron saint of his wife, the queen Maria Theresa of Habsburg-Este.
The first settlement in the area dates back to the Nuragic period.
It was a major port during Roman rule, as the precious granite quarried here was used, used in ancient Rome for the construction of monuments and noble villas.
It was a strategic outpost founded by the Pisans in the period of the Maritime Republics, as Genoa, rival of Pisa, dominated the nearby Corsica.
In the Duomo and in the Baptistery of Pisa there is granite from the Longosardo quarries.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the port grew considerably in importance, then passed under the courts of Arborea, who had a castle built which was destroyed by the Genoese in 1420 and of which few remains today.
Following this fact, the area suffered depopulation and became a refuge for bandits and smugglers, so as to convince the King of Spain Philip II to have a military tower built at the beginning of the sixteenth century to counter the situation, it is the tower crenellated circular, still existing, known as Torre di Longosardo.
Therefore the area was inhabited for a long time only by soldiers, first Spanish and then Piedmontese, until the decision of the new construction of the town and its consequent repopulation.
What see
The jagged granite cliff forms two inlets around which the town stands, surrounded by the typical Mediterranean scrub.
Recommended readings- Castelsardo (Sardinia): what to see in the medieval village
- Sardinia: Sunday day trips
- Muravera (Sardinia): what to see
- Gulf of Marinella (Sardinia): what to see
- Cala Gonone (Sardinia): what to see
The enchanting Rena Bianca beach enclosed in one of the two coves, characterized by very fine white sand and bathed by a blue and clear sea, since 1987 has received the international recognition of "Blue Flag".
The town has a large and equipped marina from which you can easily reach the islands of the Maddalena Archipelago, the Corse Islands and the Costa Smeralda.
Along the coast there are the beautiful beaches of Santa Reparata, Cala Sanbuco, Cala Spinosa, Capo Testa, Cala Grande-Valle della Luna, Conca Verde, La Marmorata, Porto Liscia-Sciumara, Valle dell'Erica, Porto Pozzo, Lu Poltiddolu, La Liccia and Porto Quadro.
