Discover Santa Maria Navarrese: Beaches, History and Local Tradition
Accommodation in Santa Maria Navarrese
Between the Beach, Marina and Ancient Olive Trees
Santa Maria Navarrese brings maritime scenery, historical traces and local tradition together in a compact area. A pine-shaded terrace in Santa Maria Navarrese offers views across the gulf and over the marina. Spiaggia Centrale is around 400 metres long; behind the beach, a shady pine grove provides pleasant relief from the heat during the hottest hours of the day. The beach can be reached on foot in a short time from the town centre and the marina.
File:Olivastri di Santa Maria Navarrese, Baunei, Sardinia 2.jpg
Photo: Thiotrix via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Two Beaches with Distinct Settings
Spiaggia Centrale in Santa Maria Navarrese stretches from the rocks below Torre Spagnola to the rocks known as Birissi. Spiaggia di San Giovanni offers a different coastal setting: it lies between Torre Spagnola and the marina. The bay north of Torre Spagnola is also known as Portu Santu Giuanni.
A Coast with a Maritime History
For centuries, the Bay of San Giovanni was used by boats travelling along the Ogliastra coast. Torre Spagnola stands above the coast; it was built around 1591 as part of the coastal defences against pirate raids. In this stretch of coast, memories of earlier seafaring meet the town’s maritime character today.
From the Santa Maria Navarrese marina’s moorings, boats and rigid inflatable boats depart from April to October for excursions along the coast. Nearby Cala Biriala can be reached on boat excursions or by rented rigid inflatable boats departing from Arbatax and Santa Maria Navarrese. In the nearby Gulf of Arbatax, the Isolotto d’Ogliastra lies directly opposite Santa Maria Navarrese.
Church, Festival and Local Cuisine
The church of Santa Maria Navarrese is plausibly considered to have been founded in the 11th century and is associated with Basque seafarers who survived a shipwreck. The Assunta festival offers a lively expression of local tradition and folklore: it is still celebrated every year on 15 August.
Near the church of Santa Maria, the old Forno della Festa was used for the Assunta celebrations. Today, the oven is fired up at ethno-gastronomic events, particularly for baking the local potato bread known as Turredda. The Pietra Votiva is a pre-Nuragic archaeological find that probably dates from the Neolithic period.
Nature in a Compact Area
Close to the sea, Santa Maria Navarrese has a concentration of centuries-old wild olive trees within a small area. Next to the church of Santa Maria Navarrese stands a large wild olive tree that is probably more than a thousand years old. It is around 10 metres high and has a trunk circumference of 8.40 metres measured at a height of 1.30 metres.
Exploring on Foot or on the Water
If you would like to explore the surrounding area on foot, the easy and scenic nature trail to Pedra Longa begins in Santa Maria Navarrese. This allows you to combine different coastal experiences when planning your days: the spiagge and the marina provide orientation by the sea, while Torre Spagnola, the church, Forno della Festa, Pietra Votiva and the ancient olive trees connect the town with its history and local culture.
Back to the main travel overview: Ogliastra.
