Autunno in Barbagia 2023

The village in which the village of Oniferi rises today was born in the Middle Ages, an era of which remains today trace through the Romanesque church of San Gavino. Oniferi was also one of the villas belonging to the Curatoria of Dore in the Giudicato of Logudoro which also included Orani, Sarule, Ottana, Orotelli, Nuoro and Orgosolo.
In the thirteenth century, due to the fall of the Giudicato, these villas came under the rule of Pisani, Genoese, Papacy and Giudicato of Arborea, until becoming the domain of the House of Aragon, which united the Curatoria of Dore with that of of Anela, constituting the County of Goceano. Granted as a fief to the Judges of Arborea, related to the Aragonese but hostile to them, the County was the scene for thirty years of bitter and bloody conflicts. On 12 January 1388, the signing of the peace treaty between the Judiciary Eleonora d’Arborea and the king Giovanni I of Aragon, in the presence of all the villas and their representatives, guaranteed the respect of all the agreements. With the end of the Giudicato of Arborea, the territory passed under the Marquisate of Oristano governed by Leonardo d'Alagon who, in an attempt to detach himself from the Aragonese, was defeated in the famous battle of Macomer (1478). In 1499 the Curatoria of Dore was finally detached from the County of Goceano and given in fief to the Carroz d’Arborea, becoming part of the Marquisate of Orani.

Oniferi is a small town in the Barbagia of Ollolai that borders to the north with Benetutti, to the west with Orotelli and to the east and south with Orani. The town is divided into several districts such as Su Nodu, Monte Ormina, Santu Juvanne, Su Cantaru, Su Pizu de S’Ortu, Untana and Sant’Antoni, while about a kilometer from the town is the hamlet of Sos Eremos.

The town is located at an altitude of 478 meters, at the foot of the wooded hill of "Sa Costa". Its territory is medium hilly and mostly used as a pasture. Oniferi also possesses a remarkable woodland heritage, mainly consisting of cork oaks, oaks, holm oaks and olive trees, especially in the areas of Sa Serra, Su Berre, Ogorthi and Sos Settiles, located on the north-central part. In the southern area, on the other hand, there are large areas with Mediterranean maquis, as in the Sa Chessa and Sa Mata sites.

The soil is mainly trachytic and basaltic in the areas of Sos Settiles, Berrinas and Sos Ruvos, while the remaining part is of a granitic nature, such as those of Su Berre and Sa Serra.

The main waterway is Su Rivu Mannu, a tributary of the Tirso to which other smaller waterways converge, such as the Rio Calluzzi and the Rio Predosu. Finally, the territory is very rich in archaeological sites: there are about forty nuraghi, numerous domus de janas, tombs of giants, dolmens and menhirs, bearing witness to the long frequentation of the area since the Neolithic period.

The nuragic age finds ample evidence in the agri of Oniferi, ascribable to the long chronological arc that goes from the age of the Middle Bronze (1700 BC) to the Iron Age (900a.C.). The territory includes numerous nuraghi among which are those of Ola, Murtas, Badu Pedrosu and Brodu. The Nuraghic sites, the work of an ingenious and hard-working people, are almost all visible and willing to control and defend local resources. Among the most famous sites there is undoubtedly the necropolis a domus de janas of Sas Concas; it is the largest hypogean complex of Barbagia, composed of about twenty tombs. In the walls of a tomb, called the hemicycle tomb, a message composed of graffiti and anthropomorphic petroglyphs depicting the concept of life and death was engraved thousands of years ago. In the Sa Serra area there are the remains of giants' tombs consisting of thick stones and betili, now hidden among the dense vegetation.

One of the most popular traditions is singing a tenore, handed down from generation to generation and of which numerous groups are present today, some of which are internationally renowned. Listening to a tenor song means participating in a ritual, intimately experiencing the excitement of the party and, through singing, discovering the joy of popular song, the solemnity of religious singing or the sweet melancholy of a young man in love.