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CULTURE AND TERRITORY
Small village on the boundary with the Barbagia of Seulo, Ussassai is situated in a mainly mountainous territory
surrounded by a thick holm-oaks grove. Feature of this area are the “tacchi”, rocky and calcareous outcrops
, with bare and steep walls but with tops covered with a thick vegetation, teeming
with oleasters, cork-oars, yews and few chestnuts that survived an epidemic. The most staggering is the calcareous complex of “su
casteddu ‘e Jeni”, so called because of the disposition of its needles and its sharp projections. The people fond of
trekking and of birdwatching will discover the beauties of nature hiding in the woods of Takigeddu
, sa Pranedda, Taccu Mannu; in the last one the golden eagle has gone back to nest.
In the naturalistic oasis of Montarbu of Seui many springs gush, among which the most known is Niala; this is
one of the stops of the famous train in the wilderness, the only railway line in the world with a shorter gauge. During its
adventurous journey in the mountains, it even crosses an old iron bridge built around the XIXth
century.
The local product par excellence is the apple with red cheeks, “a tremp’orrubia”, which ages ago
appeared on the tables of the royal house of Savoy. But the main nourishment is bread: su coccoi e su pani biancu
are baked on special occasions like weddings or baptisms, while su civargiu or moddizzosu is kneaded
with potatoes so that it can keep longer.
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