Sardinia · Nuoro
Atzara
A Mandrolisai wine village on the western Gennargentu, painted in the early twentieth century by Spanish costumbristas and the Sardinian Scuola di Atzara.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Atzara is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Città del Vino.
Subscribe and you get Atzara's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- By car
- 1 h 43 min from Cagliari
- Population
- 967
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J27°
- J32°
- A31°
- S26°
- O21°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The Mandrolisai sub-region sits at the geographic center of Sardinia, and Atzara occupies its western edge on the slopes that rise toward the Gennargentu, with the boundary of the national park running close to the eastern side of the commune. The village built its name first on wine: the volume and quality of the Mandrolisai blend was already established in the nineteenth century, before any painter arrived. What changed at the turn of the twentieth century was who was looking at the place. Visiting artists found in the stone houses and the lanes of dark basalt and granite a ready subject for peasant scenes, and the school that grew out of their stay took the village's name.
The wine economy and the painting school are not separate stories so much as two outputs of the same setting: a farming village at altitude, built of local stone, whose ordinary life became the material for a documented artistic movement. What the town has kept, in its museum, its unchanged centro storico and its parish church, is the physical record of both.
How to get there
From Cagliari (CAG), about 1 h 56 min by car.
Every town within reach of Cagliari airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Antonio Ortiz Echagüe
Civic museum holding works by the Spanish costumbristas and the Sardinian painters of the Scuola di Atzara, including Antonio Ballero and Filippo Figari.
Centro storico di Atzara
Stone houses of dark basalt and granite along narrow lanes, the model the painters used at the start of the twentieth century.
Chiesa di Sant'Antioco Martire
Parish church in the heart of the village, built in Aragonese-Catalan late Gothic style with later modifications.
Living here
Could you live here?
Atzara is at the end of the road.
- A village of 967. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Oristano, is 1 h 2 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Oristano, a city of 30,067, is 1 h 2 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 967, down 18.5% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Oristano, 1 h 2 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sorgono, 3 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €520 to €780 per m² to buy, €1.90 to €2.70 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 100% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Cagliari airport (CAG), 1 h 56 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Cagliari, 1 h 43 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, against 9% across Italy. There are 506 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 44% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Nuoro province ranks 78th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sorgono, 3 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Cagliari, 85 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Oristano, 40 km away. The nearest IB school is Ambrit International School, 352 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Chatterbox Schools and College, 84 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.46% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Sardinia spends about €1,790 a month, €530 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €539 a year for water, on the Sardinia average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
MANDROLISAI WINE
Red DOC blend of Bovale sardo, Cannonau and Monica from vineyards on the western Gennargentu slopes, the wine that made the village known in the nineteenth century.
SCUOLA DI ATZARA
Early twentieth-century painting school started by Spanish costumbristas Chicharro and Ortiz Echagüe and continued by Antonio Ballero and Filippo Figari.
BORGO PIÙ BELLO
Member of the Borghi più belli d'Italia network, stone village in the geographic center of Sardinia at 553 meters in the Mandrolisai.
Common questions
- What is Atzara known for?
- Atzara is a Mandrolisai wine village on the western Gennargentu, painted in the early twentieth century by Spanish costumbristas and the Sardinian Scuola di Atzara.
- Where is Atzara?
- Atzara is a comune in the province of Nuoro, in Sardinia, at 553 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Atzara?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Cagliari (CAG), about 1 h 56 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Atzara?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Atzara?
- Montresta, Aggius and Orroli.
- How many people live in Atzara?
- 967 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Atzara a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Atzara is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Oristano, is 1 h 2 min away. The nearest city, Oristano, is 1 h 2 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sorgono, 3 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 100% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 553 m
- Population: 967
- Surface area: 35.92 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Atzara appears in
- The best small wine towns in SardiniaSardiniawinesmall6 towns · smallest 967 residents
- The best towns inside a national park in the province of NuoroNuoro provinceinside a park7 towns · smallest 967 residents
- The prettiest villages in SardiniaSardiniaprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 776 residents
- The best hill towns within two hours of CagliariNear Cagliarihill townwithin 2 hours9 towns · smallest 967 residents · closest 66 min away
- The 10 best hidden wine towns in SardiniaSardiniawinehidden10 towns · smallest 967 residents
Similar
Towns like Atzara
What all six share with Atzara: hill towns
Montresta
Province: Oristano
both inland in Sardinia · both under 1,000 people
Aggius
Province: Gallura Nord-Est Sardegna
both inland in Sardinia
Orroli
Province: Cagliari
both inland in Sardinia
Cuglieri
Province: Oristano
both inland in Sardinia
Zavattarello
Province: Pavia
both under 1,000 people
Tempio Pausania
Province: Gallura Nord-Est Sardegna
both inland in Sardinia
The letter
Atzara is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Atzara comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Monte Argentario, 321 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.