Sardinia · Nuoro
Oliena
A Supramonte village at the foot of the massif's highest peak, source of Cannonau Nepente, base camp for Tiscali and the Lanaitto valley.
Known for
NEPENTE DI OLIENA
Vintage Cannonau wine produced only from grapes grown in the commune, name-checked by Gabriele D'Annunzio as a wine 'worthy of the Olympus'.
SUPRAMONTE
Limestone massif culminating at Monte Corrasi 1,463m, with the Lanaitto valley, the Tiscali nuragic village and the Su Gologone spring at its base.
SU GOLOGONE
Sardinia's largest karst spring and natural monument since 1998, emerald-green water rising from the Supramonte aquifer below Monte Uddè.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Why come
Oliena sits on the western flank of the massif, in the interior of the Nuoro province. The village is the main inhabited base for one of the wildest karst landscapes in Italy: the Lanaitto valley below the town conceals the collapsed doline that hides the Tiscali village, and the caves of Sa Oche and Su Bentu, whose river runs for one of the longest stretches underground of any in Italy. Monte Corrasi stands over all of it, the high point of the Supramonte, with the spring rising at the foot of a neighbouring peak just east of the centre.
Olive groves and almond orchards fill the valley below the cliffs, and the Cannonau grown on these slopes becomes the Nepente di Oliena, the wine D'Annunzio named for Olympus. The village belongs to the Parco Nazionale del Gennargentu zone and holds the Bandiera Arancione of the Touring Club Italiano. What holds the place together is the relation between the heights and the valley floor: a limestone wall that produces caves, a hidden village and a river underground, and beneath it a strip of cultivated ground that has made the wine and the oil while the mountain keeps the rest concealed.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Oliena’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
What to see
Monte Corrasi
The peak rises directly above the village, a long climb from town and the dominant presence on the skyline in every direction.
Su Gologone
The spring sits at the foot of Monte Uddè, its water surfacing already emerald-green rather than gathering colour downstream.
Villaggio nuragico di Tiscali
Bronze Age village of circular huts hidden inside a collapsed karstic doline on Monte Tiscali, reached on foot through the Lanaitto valley.
Grotta di Sa Oche e Su Bentu
Cave system in the Lanaitto valley with one of the longest subterranean rivers in Italy, used since the Upper Paleolithic.
Grotta Corbeddu
Karst cave that yielded the earliest known human remains in Sardinia, dating to the Upper Paleolithic.
The slow-trip planner
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We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Su GologoneRistorante
Su Gologone holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a Gambero Rosso listing.
Sa CorteRistorante
Sa Corte carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Living here
- Population 6,582
- Very remotei
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Sardinia, 3 h 13 min drive
- Regional capital Cagliari, 3 h 1 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 380 m
- Population: 6,582
- Surface area: 165.74 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
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🟠 Bandiera Arancione
More Bandiera Arancione towns in Sardinia
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