Aggius

Aggius (Àggju), a picturesque village of about 1,500 inhabitants in the province of Sassari, is located in the historic sub-region of Gallura, at an altitude of about 500 meters, at the foot of a granite ridge.
It is renowned for its well-preserved historic center, recognized as one of the Authentic Villages of Italy and awarded the orange flag of the Italian Touring Club.
Aggius boasts five museums: the MEOC, the Museum of Banditry, the AAAperto Museum, the Museum of Lost Love, and the Ghirigoro Museum. The origins of Aggius date back to ancient times, but the village was formally built in the Middle Ages, belonging to the Giudicato of Gallura and the curatoria of Gemini. After the fall of the giudicato in 1288, the territory was contested between the Doria family, the Giudicato of Arborea, and the Republic of Pisa, before passing under Aragonese rule in 1324. In the 16th century, Aggius was known as a center for counterfeiters with a mint located on Mount Fraili, and as a refuge for bandits, earning the title of “city of banditry”. In the 18th century, under the Savoy rule, Aggius was incorporated into the Marquisate of Gallura, a fief of the Fadriguez Fernandez family, and was redeemed in 1839 with the abolition of the feudal system, becoming a municipality with a mayor and a town council. During the Springtime of the Peoples in 1848, Aggius declared itself an autonomous republic for 48 hours. In the 19th century, the town was the scene of intense family feuds, narrated in the novels “Sardinian Night” by Pietro Casu and “The Mute of Gallura” by Enrico Costa.