Marmilla and Sarcidano · Città metropolitana di Cagliari

Things to do in Sant'Andrea Frius

Things to do in Sant'Andrea Frius, Sardinia: nuraghi, Trexenta hills, the Carnival dragon race, the almond festival and gattou sweets.

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Sant'Andrea Frius is a farming village of about 1,700 people in Trexenta, at around 300 metres and roughly 35 km from Cagliari, at the crossroads of Trexenta, Gerrei and the Campidano. It's surrounded by hills of Mediterranean scrub, almond groves, olive groves and vineyards, dotted with nuraghi. The village is known for its horseback festivals, such as the spectacular Carnival dragon race, and for almond sweets. Perfect if you're looking for living traditions, rolling countryside and Campidano cooking.

What to see in Sant'Andrea Frius

The village

The village keeps a web of narrow lanes and low stone houses. At its heart is the parish church of Sant'Andrea, which gives the village its name, with a polychrome mosaic on the façade showing the saint as a fisherman; nearby is the church of Sant'Isidoro. On the outskirts stands the country church of the Madonna di Bonaria.

Archaeology

The area has eleven nuraghi, seven of them complex, including the Mannu nuraghe, the oldest, and those of Monte Uda and Montroxiu. At the Punic site of Linna Pertunta many terracotta votive offerings were found, now kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari, and traces of Roman farm villas remain in the area.

Things to do in Sant'Andrea Frius

The hills, from about 140 to 750 metres, are ideal for hiking, mountain biking and horse riding through myrtle, strawberry tree and mastic scrub, with birds of prey overhead. You can tour almond and olive groves, taste produce from local farms and join the festivals with riders in costume. Scroll down to find experiences from local operators, ready to book.

History

The village grew on a Punic settlement in a strategic spot between Cagliari and the interior, and in Roman times it was a lookout post. In the Middle Ages, under the name Frius, it belonged to the Trexenta district of the Judicate of Cagliari; it then passed to Arborea, Pisa and the Aragonese, who granted it as a fief. Depopulated in the 1600s, it was resettled by farming families from Nuraminis and Villagreca and was freed from feudal rule in 1839.

Food and shopping

The signature product is the almond: try gattou, a brittle of sugar and almonds. Campidano cooking brings ricotta ravioli, suckling pig, lamb, nougat and biscuits, with local wine and olive oil. Also typical are the decorative candles made by the maistrus de gera, the master wax-workers.

Festivals and traditions

Carnival: a parade of masks and floats; the following Sunday brings the dragon race, a palio in which the «knights of Saint George» in traditional dress perform stunts on horseback.
Sant'Andrea and Sant'Isidoro, between late May and early June: processions with riders and traccas, decorated carts.
Almond festival, on the first Sunday of August, with a contest for the best gattou.
Nostra Signora di Bonaria in early September and Sant'Andrea on 30 November, with an evening procession of riders and launeddas players (Sardinia's ancient reed pipes).

Nearby

Senorbì, about 6 km away: Monte Luna archaeological park and the Sa Domu Nosta museum.
Pimentel: the Corongiu domus de janas.
Suelli: the Piscu nuraghe and the church of San Pietro.
Barrali and the Monte Uda pine forest.

Getting there and when to go

Sant'Andrea Frius is linked to Cagliari by the main roads towards Trexenta and Gerrei. Cagliari-Elmas airport and the port of Cagliari are about 45 minutes by car, as are the Poetto beaches. Spring brings flowering hills and the May festival; August the almond festival; Carnival the dragon race.