Sinis

The Sinis is a natural paradise where remarkable cultural evidence is widespread. It is the place where a farmer, ploughing his land at Monte’e Prama, discovered the Giganti (Giants): dozens of extraordinary stone colossi dating 3,000 years back and which can now be admired at the Museum of Cabras.
Remarkably intact natural ecosystems are concentrated in the small Sinis area making this territory even more impressive; it features alternating landscapes of sea water and lagoons, sand dunes and unique beaches such as Is Aruttas; the sand is incredibly white, almost blinding, as it is formed by transparent grains of quartz and veiled with blue due to the reflection of the sky and the sea. This is how the Sinis appears before you: shining and peaceful beaches where often a cordon of dunes separates them from a rich network of salt marshes and ponds. The largest is that of Cabras surrounded by several smaller ones. The colours that characterise the lagoons change colours, from white of the beaches to green, violet and red of the algae: silence becomes the speaker of the many adorable cormorants, herons, hawks, kingfishers and pink flamingos that live and breed in thousands. All this represents a feast for birdwatchers and for those who love horseback riding between the sandbanks that separate the waters from the ponds.
Small towns and villages give a special character to the Sinis; there is a surrealistic wild west-style village in front of the beaches with low houses and unpaved roads which come alive for the patron feast; for nine days, around the Church of San Salvatore, folk dances, roasted porceddus (piglet pork meat), mullet and fregola sarda (Sardinian pasta) hand made with semolina flour and cooked over low heat with local clams, are the main attractions. Don’t miss the delicious mullet roe, fished in Cabras and prepared with same technique handed down from the Phoenicians. But the symbol of the Feast is the corsa degli scalzi, reminiscent of the ritual running barefoot holding the simulacrum of the Saint to be protected from the invading Saracens taking it from the small village of San Salvatore to Cabras.

The village of San Giovanni di Sinis, with its old wooden shacks and rushes used by locals during the summer months, is located on the very tip of the peninsula. Among these humble dwellings, there is the oldest church in Sardinia; thanks to the enchantment that surrounds it, the small church of San Giovanni seems to be wrapped in a mysterious charm, the same which is found in the Punic city of Tharros, just a short walk from here. Just a tip... come here at sunset.