North-West · Città metropolitana di Sassari

Things to do in Martis

Things to do in Martis, Sardinia: Gothic San Pantaleo church, Carrucana petrified forest, Triulintas waterfall and Badde Traes gorge.

Martis, Sardegna — © Gianni Careddu · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Martis is a small Anglona village of just over 450 people in north-west Sardinia. One theory links its name to a temple of Mars. Gathered around its stone houses, it has one of the area's most striking churches, the Gothic San Pantaleo, and a surprising landscape with a petrified forest, a canyon and a waterfall. It is perfect for lovers of nature, geology and quiet villages.

What to see in Martis

Church of San Pantaleo

Built in the 13th–14th centuries in Romanesque-Gothic style, it has three aisles, a Romanesque doorway and a two-tone stone rose window. A Templar cross is carved on a trachyte block in one buttress. It once held Andrea Lusso's Miracle of San Pantaleo (1595), now in the parish church of San Giuseppe together with a 14th-century statue of the Dormitio Virginis.

Old town and museum

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Catalan-school stonemasons, the picapedrers, decorated the houses with cornices, doorways and iron balconies. Look for the lintel with a twin-tailed mermaid and those carved with palm trees. The 17th-century church of San Giovanni houses the Diocesan Museum, with vestments, silverware and the crucifix used in the s'Iscravamentu rite. The Rosario church also stands in the centre.

Carrucana petrified forest

Across about 1,000 m², fossil tree trunks from the Miocene emerge from the ground, turned to stone by volcanic activity: opal, chalcedony and quartz replaced the wood while keeping its shape.

Things to do in Martis

Hikers will find the Badde Traes gorge, a red-walled canyon above a stream among scrub and twisted oaks, and the Triulintas waterfall, which drops about 15 metres into a small pool framed by willows and elms. Archaeology fans can seek out the area's twelve nuraghi, such as Sas Molas, built in alternating courses of red trachyte and white limestone. Browse the hikes and activities offered by local operators just below.

History

At Serra Preideru, Palaeolithic stone tools have been found, among the few in Sardinia, and Early Neolithic finds at the foot of Monte Franco. In the Middle Ages the village belonged to the Giudicato of Torres, one of Sardinia's medieval kingdoms. After 1259 it passed to the Malaspina, then the Doria and, around 1450, the Aragonese. In the 18th century it joined the principality of Anglona; feudal rule ended in 1839.

What to eat and buy

The cooking is Anglona farm food: sheep's cheeses, meats, homemade bread and festive sweets. Ask in the village for produce from local farms.

Festivals and traditions

The patron saint is San Pantaleo. The most heartfelt rites are those of Holy Week, with s'Iscravamentu, the Deposition from the Cross. The traditional dress of Martis is simple and elegant, in white and black fabrics.

Nearby

Perfugas, with its archaeological and palaeobotanical museum, ideal after the petrified forest.
Chiaramonti, with the Doria castle and Santa Giusta.
Nulvi, town of the giant candlesticks and the Irru sacred well.
Laerru, with the Monte Ultana archaeological park.

Getting there and when to go

Martis is about 45 minutes by car from Sassari. The nearest airports are Olbia and Alghero-Fertilia, about an hour or a little more; the ports are Porto Torres and Olbia. The station is on the tourist Trenino Verde line. The closest sea is at Castelsardo and Valledoria, about 35–40 minutes away. Spring is the best season for the waterfall, when water is plentiful.