Macomer ( sc, Macumère) 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 ...

'' of

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 ...

(

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 ...

) in the

province of Nuoro The province of Nuoro ( it, provincia di Nuoro; sc, provìntzia de Nùgoro) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia, Italy. Its capital is the city of Nuoro. It has an area of , and, , a total population of 210,972. The provinc ...

. It is situated on the southern ascent to the central plateau (the Campeda) of this part of Sardinia, at the junction of narrow-gauge lines branching from the main railroad line running east to Nuoro and west to Bosa. The district, especially the Campeda, is well suited for grazing and horse and cattle breeding, which is carried on to a considerable extent.

History

Macomer, known to the Greek geographer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

as "Macopsissa," has been inhabited since antiquity. In 1478 was the scene of the historical battle between the

Sardinians The Sardinians, or Sards ( sc, Sardos or ; Italian and Sassarese: ''Sardi''; Gallurese: ''Saldi''), are a Romance language-speaking ethnic group native to Sardinia, from which the western Mediterranean island and autonomous region of Italy de ...

and the Aragonese, which ended the independence of

. In 1767, under the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

, it became the capital of the

Marquisate A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...

of Marghine. The Marquisate included the nearby villages of Birori, Bolotana, Borore, Bortigali,

Dualchi Dualchi ( sc, Duarche) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about west of Nuoro. Dualchi borders the following municipalities: Aidomaggiore, Birori, Boro ...

, Lei, Mulargia, Noragugume and Silanus. In 1949, a statue called ''The Venus of Macomer'' was discovered in a cave located in "Marras" area, in a gorge of the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

S'Adde. The artifact depicts a Goddess Mother dating back to the

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

period. It is about high and was built with local

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

. It is currently kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari. Nowadays, Macomer is a destination for tourists who want to admire the beautiful landscape around the city. Tamuli

Main sights

The region is richer in the bronze-age towers known as nuraghi than any other part of Sardinia. The old parish church of San Pantaleone has three Roman mile-stones in front of it, belonging to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

high-road from Carales to Turris Libisonis. A modern road now follows the ancient one. Recently an ethnographic museum called "Le Arti Antiche" (The ancient Arts) has been opened, where it is possible to see tools traditionally used for agriculture and livestock, folk costumes, and photographs. The ''Monte di Sant'Antonio'' (St. Anthony's Mountain) has a great historical and naturalistic importance; on 13 June of every year the anniversary of the Saint of

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

is celebrated there.

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Sardinia