Sardinia · Oristano
Masullas
A Marmilla village where a 17th-century Capuchin convent houses fossils, minerals, and volcanic history.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Masullas is on our list
It holds Borghi Autentici.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- By car
- 1 h 7 min from Cagliari
- Population
- 992
- J14°
- F15°
- M17°
- A20°
- M24°
- J30°
- J34°
- A33°
- S29°
- O24°
- N19°
- D15°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Masullas lies in the Marmilla, 60 kilometers northwest of Cagliari, on the southern slopes of Monte Arci. The town itself is a fusion: two medieval villages, each built around its own late-Romanesque church, grew together into the single settlement that stands today, the older of the pair raised in the 13th century. The Roman necropolises of Mitza Salida and Roia de sa Lua show that people were on this ground well before that medieval merger, evidence of settlement reaching back to antiquity.
What sets Masullas apart from neighboring Marmilla villages is the museum installed in the former convent of the Capuchin friars, dedicated to the geologist Stefano Incani. It holds thousands of minerals and fossils documenting a region shaped first by a tropical sea twenty million years ago and then by the volcano that followed. The territory belongs to the Parco Geominerario della Sardegna, the first geological park recognized by UNESCO, and Masullas is one of its main interpretive centers. What this adds up to is a small village whose layered history, volcanic, Roman, medieval, converges in a single former convent building at its center, a place that reads as regional archive as much as parish town.
How to get there
From Cagliari (CAG), about 1 h 21 min by car.
Coming by train into Cagliari? Masullas is about 1 h 6 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Cagliari airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
GeoMuseo MonteArci Stefano Incani
Minerals and fossils fill the former convent's halls, including a room devoted to the volcano's history: a record of a tropical sea some twenty million years ago followed by the eruptions of Monte Arci.
Chiesa di San Leonardo
The older of the two churches, standing at the center of what was once its own village before the settlements grew together.
Chiesa di Santa Lucia
The second church, anchor of the parallel village that stood alongside the other until the two merged.
Museo I Cavalieri delle Colline
Opened in 2013, covering the aristocracy of Masullas and Parte Montis with weapons, documents, and local archives.
Necropoli di Mitza Salida
Roman-era burial ground on the edge of town, one of two such sites confirming settlement here in antiquity.
Living here
Could you live here?
Masullas is at the end of the road.
- A village of 992. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Sanluri, is 30 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Oristano, a city of 30,067, is 36 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 992, down 10.5% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Oristano, 36 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital San Gavino Monreale, 17 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €340 to €500 per m² to buy, €1.20 to €1.80 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- 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 21 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Cagliari, 1 h 7 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
1% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, against 9% across Italy. There are 448 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 34% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Oristano province ranks 72nd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in San Gavino Monreale, 17 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Cagliari, 59 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Oristano, 27 km away. The nearest IB school is Ambrit International School, 392 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Chatterbox Schools and College, 61 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.76% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.5% to your income tax. 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 C, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 15 to March 31, up to 10 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 12% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 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
MONTE ARCI
The volcanic massif behind town, source of obsidian traded across the western Mediterranean in the Neolithic.
GEOMUSEO
Capuchin convent converted into the regional museum of the Parco Geominerario della Sardegna, a UNESCO geopark.
TWO CHURCHES
San Leonardo and Santa Lucia, the late-Romanesque churches around which two medieval villages fused into one.
Common questions
- What is Masullas known for?
- Masullas is a Marmilla village at 129 meters where a 17th-century Capuchin convent houses fossils, minerals, and volcanic history.
- Where is Masullas?
- Masullas is a comune in the province of Oristano, in Sardinia.
- What is the nearest airport to Masullas?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Cagliari (CAG), about 1 h 21 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Masullas?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov. July is the warmest month, averaging 34 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Masullas?
- Barumini, Santu Lussurgiu and Stintino.
- How many people live in Masullas?
- 992 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Masullas a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Masullas is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Sanluri, is 30 min away. The nearest city, Oristano, is 36 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in San Gavino Monreale, 17 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 100% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
The numbers
- Elevation: 129 m
- Population: 992
- Surface area: 18.68 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 Masullas appears in
Similar
Towns like Masullas
What all six share with Masullas: under 3,000 people
Barumini
Province: Medio Campidano
both inland in Sardinia
Santu Lussurgiu
Province: Oristano
both inland in Sardinia
Stintino
Province: Sassari
both near sea level
Seneghe
Province: Oristano
both inland in Sardinia
Parghelia
Province: Vibo Valentia
both near sea level
Giurdignano
Province: Lecce
both near sea level
The letter
Masullas 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 Masullas comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Monte Argentario, 362 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.