Arzachena (; sdn, Alzachèna; sc, Altzaghèna) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Sassari The province of Sassari ( it, provincia di Sassari, sc, provìntzia de Tàtari, sdc, prubìnzia di Sàssari, ca, província de Sàsser, french: province de Sassari, co, pruvincia di Sassari) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sa ...

, northern

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, the second largest island off the coast of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Arzachena lies half way between the original

Costa Smeralda The Costa Smeralda (, ; sdn, Monti di Mola; sc, Montes de Mola) is a coastal area and tourist destination in northern Sardinia, Italy, with a length of some 20 km, although the term originally designated only a small stretch in the comm ...

resort and Porto Rafael, both founded in the late 1950s. After

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age ...

and

Tempio Pausania Tempio Pausania (; sdn, Tèmpiu) is a town of about 14,000 inhabitants in the Gallura region of northern Sardinia, Italy, in the province of Sassari. History Cultural and delegated administrative centre of the Gallura sub-region, Tempio has ...

, it is the third largest commune in

Gallura Gallura ( sdn, Gaddura or ; sc, Caddura ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy. The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area". Geography Gallùra has a surface of and it is situated between 40°55'20"64 latitude ...

by inhabitants. The ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of

Porto Cervo Porto Cervo (; ) is an Italian seaside resort in northern Sardinia. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Arzachena, in the province of Sassari. Created by Prince Karim Aga Khan and various other investors, Porto Cervo is the main centre of Co ...

is the main resort area of Costa Smeralda for summer tourism, which since the 1960s has replaced agriculture as the main local source of economic activity. Nearby there are numerous archaeological sites from the Nuragic period, including those from a local sub-culture known as Arzachena culture (the necropolis of Li Muri and others).

History

Located in an area once inhabited by the Arzachena culture, the region was known by the Romans as ''Turibulum'', after a mushroom-shaped rock which is today the symbol of the town. The oldest recorded use of the modern name is in a 1421 document, when king Alfonso IV of Aragon gave it (under the spelling ''Arsaghene'') as a fief to Ramboldo de Cobaria. In the late 16th century it was mostly depopulated, and the current town was re-established in 1716 on a hill by King

Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy Charles Emmanuel III (27 April 1701 – 20 February 1773) was Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death. Biography He was born in Turin to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy and his first wife the French Anne Marie d'Orléans. H ...

. In 1909 the new village had 853 inhabitants, a population which grew substantially after the tourist boom associated with Costa Smeralda, which had originally been a small stretch of coast in the commune of Arzachena.

Frazioni and localities

* Abbiadori * Baja Sardinia * Cala di Volpe * Cannigione * Poltu Quatu *

* La Conia * Liscia di Vacca * Santa Teresina * Monti Canaglia * Padula d'Izzana * Giunnicheddu

Twin towns

Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; it, Porto Vecchio or ; co, Portivechju or ) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the mars ...

, France * Ibiza, Spain *

Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...

, Egypt

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Sardinia 1922 establishments in Italy States and territories established in 1922 {{Sardinia-geo-stub

History

Frazioni and localities

See also

Twin towns

References

External links