Path Description
DEPARTURE: Domusnovas 148 m (asl)
ARRIVAL: Nuxis 191 m (asl)
TECHNICAL DATA:
- Length: 42.4 km
- Difference in altitude: +877 m and –836 m
- Maximum gradient + 18.4%
- Minimum gradient -16.1%
- Highest point on the road Località Rosas 483 m above sea level
Possible detours to visit notable points:
COME AND GO TO THE MINING AND SPELEO-ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF SA MARCHESA (Nuxis)
Length of the return journey: 2.6 km
Start/end point (on SP 78 shortly after entering the hamlet of Acquacadda): h: 177 m (asl)
Highest point (Sa Marchesa site): h: 221 m (asl).
STAGE DESCRIPTION:
From the church of Santa Barbara in Domusnovas, take Via Foscolo, and once you leave the town, go through the underpass at the SS 130, then immediately turn left onto the dirt road that runs alongside the main road.
This brings you to the crossroads on the SP 87 which you take by turning right to immediately arrive at the northern outskirts of Musei.
Once inside the museum, you reach the ETFAS park, with its characteristic silos, which testify to the agricultural nature of the town. You then reach the church of Sant'Ignazio, where nearby you can admire Su Congiu de Omu, which is the oldest building constructed in ladiri (a construction method with mud and straw bricks) in Sardinia.
After crossing the town in a westerly direction, you enter the SP 87 to reach the Villamassargia train station. Following the overpass, you enter the road directly towards the town of Villamassargia in a southerly direction, crossing the bridge over the SP 87. After about 1.7 km, you reach the roundabout at the entrance to Villamassargia, where, continuing straight on in a southerly direction, you enter the town.
Here, following Via Roma, you reach Piazza Pilar, where the Romanesque church of San Ranieri stands. Continuing, you arrive at the sports area on the southern outskirts of the town.
Taking Via dello Sport, you leave Villamassargia and continue east. Entering the countryside, you reach the hill that hosts the Gioiosa Guardia Castle, which can be admired on the right of the route.
The castle was probably built at the behest of the Della Gherardesca family, who became masters of south-western Sardinia after the division of the Giudicato of Cagliari in 1258. However, according to another hypothesis, its construction dates back to the 12th century, during the reign of William I Salusio IV.
Continuing along the dirt road, you soon arrive at the entrance to the S'Ortu Mannu Natural Oasis, an olive grove home to centuries-old trees, including “Sa Reina,” an olive tree over 16 m in diameter and estimated to be over 800 years old.
After visiting this particular site, continue east on the dirt road until you get very close to the SP 02. From here, continuing on the dirt road that heads south
we proceed by starting the 7.7 km climb, with an average gradient of 3% which takes us to the former mining village of Orbai in the Villamassargia countryside.
The village of Orbai lies in the middle of a lush forest with a splendid view of the Cixerri River valley and was inhabited for about 80 years.
The mine began operating for the production of mixed lead-zinc ores around 1872, operated by the "Società degli Orbi" (Iron-headed Society), from which the village later took its name.
The difficulties associated with transporting produce due to the lack of road connections to the ports immediately emerged.
After the end of the world war, in agreement with Monteponi, extraction work was supposed to resume as the Orbai Mine Company, but on this occasion too the results were not satisfactory and after a few years (around the mid-1950s) the mine was definitively closed and the concession revoked.
After visiting the former mining village of Orbai, currently uninhabited despite redevelopment work carried out in the early 1990s, and climbing to its summit, from which it is possible to enjoy a magnificent view of the entire Cixerri valley, we continue, still on a dirt road, towards the former mining village of Rosas.
The Rosas mine, already exploited in Roman and Pisan times, is the second oldest mining concession in Sardinia.
Granted in 1851 for the exploitation of galena to the Società Anonima dell'Unione Miniere Sulcis e Sarrabus, in 1900 the concession was extended to zinc and copper minerals, and mining ceased in 1979.
At this site, in 1908, Professor Domenico Lovisato discovered Rosasite, a zinc-copper carbonate that has been recognized as the identifying mineral and the type species of Sardinia. Rosasite takes its name from the Rosas mine where it was first discovered.
The mining site, renovated and redeveloped for tourist hospitality, presents itself as an "open-air museum", where all the industrial buildings have been restored and made accessible for use and the old residential units have been redeveloped for tourist hospitality.
Recently, due to management issues, the site is temporarily down.
In this section, the route climbs to the highest altitude of the stage (483 m above sea level) with an average gradient of 6.2%, before descending to the 250 m altitude (above sea level) of the village of Rosas.
Before reaching the central square of the mining village, where the dominant building is the former washery, now converted into a tourist accommodation, turn left onto the dirt road that leads into the former mining area, leaving the mining village. This route, with several ups and downs, descends towards the valley near the Nuxis countryside and finally intersects with the SP 78, which you take by turning left to shortly reach the junction for the Sa Marchesa site. 1*
After visiting the Geo Speleo Archaeological site, retrace your steps along the dirt road until you return to the SP 78 and continue on the asphalt road to quickly reach the village of Acquacadda, a hamlet of Nuxis.
Once past the small town, you continue along a farm road to take the SS 293 for a very short stretch and finally arrive in Nuxis from the northern outskirts of the town and conclude the stage.
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