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00 Oristano
Stemma di Oristano

Sardinia · Oristano

Oristano

The old capital of the Giudicato di Arborea, city of Eleonora and the Carta de Logu, host of Sa Sartiglia equestrian joust at Carnival.

Best time
May–Oct
By car
1 h 20 min from Cagliari
By train
Station in the comune
Population
30,363

Known for

  • SA SARTIGLIA

    Carnival equestrian joust at the ring with a sixteenth-century ritual: Su Componidori, the lead rider, is dressed and unmasked publicly before the ride.

  • ELEONORA D'ARBOREA

    Regent of the Giudicato from 1383 to 1403, author of the Carta de Logu, the legal code that governed Sardinia for four centuries after her death.

  • THARROS

    Phoenician-Roman port city on the Sinis peninsula, predecessor of Oristano as regional capital, archaeological site with theatre, baths and Punic remains.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

  • J14°
  • F16°
  • M17°
  • A19°
  • M23°
  • J29°
  • J32°
  • A32°
  • S28°
  • O24°
  • N19°
  • D15°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Oristano sits at the mouth of the Tirso river on the Campidano plain, five metres above sea level, looking onto the gulf that carries its name. The city replaced the ancient Phoenician-Roman port of Tharros and became the capital of the Giudicato di Arborea in 1076, the central-western Sardinian state that survived from 900 to 1420. Eleonora d'Arborea governed as regent from 1383 to 1403 and issued the Carta de Logu, one of the most advanced medieval law codes in Europe, in force on the island for four centuries.

Each Carnival the city stages Sa Sartiglia, an equestrian joust at the ring whose lead rider, Su Componidori, is dressed and unmasked according to a fixed sixteenth-century ritual. The Torre di Mariano II and the Antica Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta mark the medieval centre. The coast at Torregrande, six kilometres west, carries the Bandiera Blu rating.

The Sunday letter

Oristano 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 every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Oristano comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Oristano in our articles

How to get there

From Cagliari (CAG), about 1h 34m by car.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming by train into Cagliari? Oristano is about 1h 18m away by road.

Every town within reach of Cagliari airport.

Oristano, photo 1
Oristano, photo 2

What to see

  • Torre di Mariano II (Torre di San Cristoforo)

    Late thirteenth-century medieval tower built by Mariano II d'Arborea on Piazza Roma, one of the surviving fragments of the old city walls.

  • Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta

    Medieval cathedral on Piazza Duomo, rebuilt in the eighteenth century, with the octagonal bell tower retaining its earlier majolica-tiled cap.

  • Antiquarium Arborense

    Civic museum with the most important collection of Punic-Roman finds from Tharros and medieval material from the Giudicato of Arborea.

  • Piazza Eleonora d'Arborea

    Central square named for the giudicessa, with the 1881 statue of Eleonora holding the Carta de Logu, surrounded by Liberty-era palazzi.

  • Torregrande

    Coastal marina six kilometres west of the city, named for the late-sixteenth-century Spanish watchtower, with a Bandiera Blu beach.

  • Area archeologica di Tharros

    Phoenician-Roman city on the Sinis peninsula northwest of Oristano, the predecessor settlement that the Arborea capital replaced from 1076.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Oristano fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

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.

  • Craf da BananaRistorante

    One Gambero Rosso fork (77/100), at Craf da Banana.

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 30,363
  • A local hubi
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Cagliari, 1 h 34 min drive
  • Regional capital Cagliari, 1 h 21 min drive

Common questions

What is Oristano known for?
Oristano is the old capital of the Giudicato di Arborea, city of Eleonora and the Carta de Logu, host of Sa Sartiglia equestrian joust at Carnival.
Where is Oristano?
Oristano is a comune in the province of Oristano, in Sardinia, at 5 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Oristano?
Cagliari (CAG), about 1h 34m by car.
Can you get to Oristano without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
When is the best time to visit Oristano?
Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Oristano?
Yes. La Sartiglia. February is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Oristano?
Alghero, Tortolì and La Maddalena.
How many people live in Oristano?
30,363 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 5 m
  • Population: 30,363
  • Surface area: 84.57 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.

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