Tempio Pausania

Tempio Pausania is an Italian town of 13,056 inhabitants located in the heart of Gallura at the foot of Mount Limbara. Known as the “city of stone,” it features parks and springs, offering a place for relaxation and healthy mountain air with its picturesque historic center made of granite buildings, stone-paved streets, and tree-lined avenues.

Long a reference point for the Gallura hinterland, it is a bishop’s seat and home to a courthouse. First mentioned as “Templo” in 1173 in a deed between the Primatial of Pisa and the Bishop of Civita (now Olbia) and later as Villa Templi, it became the capital of the Curatoria of Gemini, one of the administrative divisions of the Judicate of Gallura during the Giudicati period.

The second name was added in 1879 in reference to the ancient diocesan seat of Phausania. Besides its granite, the city is famous for cork (to which the cork machinery museum is dedicated) and its wines (Vermentino, Karana, and Muscat). It is well-known for being the birthplace of illustrious figures such as Gavino Gabriel, the ethnomusicologist who founded the State Record Library, and Bernardo De Muro, the famous tenor to whom the namesake museum in the former Piarist monastery is dedicated.

Its Carnival is very famous, an event that counts one hundred thousand attendees each year. The spoken dialect is “lu Gadduresu”. The typical dish is suppa cuata, and many others such as casgiatini, papassini, and acciuleddi e meli. In August, the patron saints St. Paul the Hermit and Virgin of the Good Journey are celebrated with religious and civil ceremonies.