Tempio Pausania is a town c. 14,000 inhabitants in the Gallura

Gallura

Gallura is a region of northern Sardinia, Italy.The name Gallùra means "area located on high ground".-Geography:...

 region of northern Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the administrative capital (together with Olbia

Olbia

Olbia is a town and comune of 56,231 inhabitants in northeastern Sardinia , in the Gallura sub-region. Called Olbia in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle Ages and Terranova Pausania before the 1940s, Olbia was again the official name of the town after the period of Fascism.-Geography:It is the...

) of the province of Olbia-Tempio.

History

Cultural and delegated administrative centre of the Gallura sub-region, Tempio has an ancient history and is the centre of one of the two main areas that remained safe from Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

n colonisation

Colonisation

Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the...

. Typical granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

-stone architecture of the historical centre presents many similarities with southern Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

n towns.

Main sights

• Historical centre of the town, built in grey granite blocks (mainly 18th century); particularly Corso Matteotti, via Roma (Carrera Longa, Lu Runzatu, Lu Pultali), Piazza d'Italia (Piazza di l'Ara), Parco delle Rimembranze, Fonte Nuova (Funtana Noa) and Parco di San Lorenzo, via Mannu (ex via dei Nobili or dei Cavalieri);
• Nuraghe Maiori (Naracu Maiori);
• Nuraghe Polcu (Naracu Polcu);
• Ruins of Palace of Giudice Nino Visconti di Gallura (1200);
• San Pietro (Santu Petru) Cathedral;
• Santa Croce Church;
• Oratorio del Rosario (13th-14th century);
• Palazzo Villamarina-Pes (17th century);

• Palazzo degli Scolopi, (17th century), actually Provincial offices;
• Purgatorio (Lu Pulgatoriu) Church (17th century);
• Prison "La Rotonda" (1845);
• Town Hall (1882);
• Carmine Theatre (1928-1929);
• Railway Station (1930/33);
• Francesco Fadda former Military Settlement (20th century), actually municipal offices;
• "Vecchio Caseggiato" Primary Schools;
• San Giuseppe Church (1950-1998);
• Fonti di Rinagghju;
• Monte Limbara (1359 m), 16 km south of the town.

Transport

Tempio Pausania has national roads with Sassari

Sassari

Sassari is an Italian city. It is the second-largest city of Sardinia in terms of population with about 130,000 inhabitants, or about 300,000 including the greater metropolitan area...

 (SS 672), Olbia (SS127) and Palau

Palau (OT)

Palau is a comune in the Province of Olbia-Tempio in the Italian region Sardinia, about 220 km north of Cagliari and about 30 km northwest of Olbia. It was a frazione of the comune of Tempio Pausania until 1959.It is in Punta Sardegna, and was founded in 1875 by local...

 (SS133). Railway station.

See also

• Diocese of Ampurias
• Francesco Menzio
  Francesco Menzio
  Francesco Menzio , was an Italian painter.Francesco Menzio was born in Tempio Pausania, in Sardinia, from a Piedmontese family. He moved to Turin with his family in 1912 and started painting at the end of the First World War, in which he participated. He frequented the studio of Felice Casorati...
  
  (1899-1979), painter.