Barbagia

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Barbagia (Italian: [barˈbaːdʒa]; Sardinian: Barbàgia or Barbàza) is a geographical, cultural and natural region of inner Sardinia, contained for the most part in the province of Nuoro and Ogliastra and located alongside the Gennargentu massif. The name comes from Cicero, who described the land as inhabited by barbarians; Roman domination over this part of the island was in fact never more than nominal as a result of the Roman-Sardinian Wars. This word shares its etymology with the now antiquated Barbary. The Sardinians, many of whose revolts came from this area, were also mocked by the ancient Romans with the pejorative term latrones mastrucati 'thieves wearing rough woolen garments'. In 594, Pope Gregory the Great wrote a letter to Hospito, a Christian whom he calls the "leader of the Barbaricini" (dux barbaricinorum). Hospito apparently permitted the evangelisation of pagan Barbagia by Christian missionaries. The area is usually divided into five Barbagias: the Barbagia of Ollolai, the Barbagia of Seulo, the Barbagia of Belvì, the Mandrolisai, and finally the Barbagia Trigònia, the historical name by which the area of Ogliastra was once referred to. The latter two are named after a sub-region, and the others after their main villages. The area comprises mainly rocky and steep hills and mountains, and there is little human presence. Barbagia is one of the least populated areas in Europe, which has allowed Barbagia to better preserve the island's cultural and natural treasures. According to a thesis by the archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, Sardinian history has always been characterised by what he called the "constant of Sardinian resistance": opposition to various invaders who attempted, at various times, to lord over the indigenous inhabitants. Barbagia is one of the few Sardinian regions where the Sardinian language in its own varieties, both Nuorese and Campidanese, is still spoken on an...