Sulcis and Iglesiente, remote and dazzling Sardinia

If you are not travelling with your own vehicle, ferried from the Continent, you can easily rent a car at Cagliari airport and head south, taking advantage of the views of red rocks and Mediterranean maquis that the beautiful, winding provincial road 293 offers.. When you reach Nuxis, one of the first villages in the province, you can detour to the small Byzantine church of St. Elias, lost amidst the vegetation: although it has been rather remodelled from the original structure, it is striking due to its isolated position and the small cross-shaped plan. A little further on, you turn towards Villaperuccio and the necropolis of Montessu.

Amidst large bushes and olive trees, Montessu is home to numerous "fairy houses", the Domus de Janas: according to legend, tiny fairies lived in tiny houses carved into the rock. These are pre-Nuragic tombs excavated more than five thousand years ago, and it is only with the Nuragic peoples that the tombs were used as dwellings: we speak of 2000 BC, well before the Etruscans and Romans.

The road continues in the direction of Santadi and Giba, the land of Carignano del Sulcis, a DOC wine, deep red and fragrant. The vine is among the few that grow on sandy soils. There are plenty of wine cellars in which to stop for a tasting, before returning to State Road 293.

Spectacular, even in the less warm months, is the promontory of Porto Pino. After Sant'Anna Arresi (the scene every late summer of a historic jazz festival with an international flavour) stretches an arc of white sands that reaches the first reliefs of Capo Teulada, 4 km of dunes that make you dream. 

But there is something else less known and equally remarkable. It is the village of Tratalias. The village was abandoned and rebuilt on high ground in the 1950s, because water from an artificial dam on the Rio Palmas had endangered the foundations of the oldest houses. These have now been partially recovered and are home to craft activities and exhibition spaces. Here the Cathedral of Santa Maria di Monserrato shines above all.

From Tratalìas the sea is a few kilometres away. You pass the small town of San Giovanni Suergiu and walk along the road on the isthmus that leads to the Island of Sant'Antioco.

Here we are in Sant'Antioco, the largest island in the Sulcis archipelago. To start visiting it, you can follow the road that runs along the Santa Caterina pond, admiring the colours and movements of the many flamingos that inhabit it and continue to the salt pans. Or go to the town of Sant'Antioco, heir to the ancient Sulky, founded by the Phoenicians around 750 BC.

In addition to relaxation, there is the opportunity to delve into the archaeological evidence remaining in the area in the "Ferruccio Barreca" Museum, a story of the Phoenician, Punic and Roman history of one of the largest urban centres of antiquity. The Mab Museum,the Ethnographic Museum, the Hypogeum Village, the Tophet, the Acropolis, the Sabaudo Fort and the Historical Archive are among the possibilities of discovery included in the Archaeological Park's visit offer.

From here we start again and, beyond Cape Sperone, the coastline becomes steep. A path allows you to reach the wild inlet of Porto Sciusciau and, if the mistral does not whip, the beaches of Cala Sapone and especially Cala Lunga, with its long fjord and cliffs, are to be seen (even for more than one swim in good season).

Instead, go to Calasetta  to embark and reach the island of San Pietro. The only island town is Carloforte, with Genoese origins and a deeply Mediterranean charm, which the mild climate and clear days allow you to fully appreciate outside the busiest period of the summer holidays. Carloforte's fame is linked to the tradition of tuna fishing. Here, in fact, is the last tuna trap on the Sardinian coast and one of the oldest in the Mediterranean.

Leaving Carloforte you can go to Capo Sandalo, in a blaze of Mediterranean scrub and rocks overlooking the sea, a nesting destination for many birds, including the Queen's Falcon, which can be seen from April to November together with the Corsican gull and the peregrine falcon. Here, in 2011, an oasis of wildlife protection was created entrusted to the Province of Carbonia-Iglesias, the Oasis Lipu of Capo Sandalo, and from April to November. You return to the mainland, the last exploration of the surprising Sardinian southwest, taking the ferry to Portoscuso from Carloforte.

From Portoscuso take the provincial road 108, which after a few kilometres enters the state road 126 – along which the Monteponi mines meet and, in just under half anhour, there is Iglesias!

Iglèsias was one of the most important Italian mining centres, a past that is being enhanced with the Sardinia Historical and Environmental Geomineral Park, the institution entrusted with the protection of the region's former mining sites. Its headquarters are in Iglesias and the Santa Barbara Mining Trail also starts (or arrives) from here, a route of about 500 kilometres that winds its way through places of worship, disused mining sites, ancient roads, mule tracks and railways used in the past to transport metals. The ideal months to visit it are May and September, when the sun hits less, but in reality the mild climate and limited rainfall of this area make it accessible even in the winter months.

But Iglesias is now finally also known for its wild coastline and for its testimonies of pre-Christian antiquity. You can then decide to head to the beaches of the coast, where the mining settlements of Nébida and Masùa are also located. Or drive through the Fluminese mountains to the north of the city, visit the Temple of Antas  and then return to the Buggerru coast, appreciated by surfers and trekking enthusiasts (the town is in fact the starting point of the Mines in the Blue network of hiking trails), and finish the trip on the beautiful dunes of the Piscinas coastline.