Samatzai is a town in the province of South Sardinia, located on the fringe of the Campidano in Sardinia ( Italy). It is 33 km away from

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

. The name derives from Ancient Greek 'samax', which means "rush mat", or from the Mesopotamian god Samas. Either way, Samatzai is believed to have been inhabited since

Nuragic The nuraghe (, ; plural: Logudorese Sardinian , Campidanese Sardinian , Italian ), or also nurhag in English, is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia, developed during the Nuragic Age between 1900 and 730 B.C. To ...

times. The main attraction of note is the 15th-century Church of San Giovanni Battista in the town centre, built in an Aragonese-influenced Gothic style. Other churches include the 17th-century Santa Barbara and the ruined San Marco. The Monte Granitico, a former grain silo that is now a library, is known for its unusual floor plan. Samatzai's economy is mainly focused on the primary sector, despite it being home to one of Italy's most prominent

cement works A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

. Residents of the town are known as ''samatzesi'', and the town's patron saint is John the Baptist.

References

Municipalities of the Province of South Sardinia {{Sardinia-geo-stub