Olbia

Olbia (sardinian: Terranoa, gallurese: Tarranoa), is a town of approximately 40,000 inhabitants in northeastern Sardinia (Italy), in the Gallura sub-region.

Called Olbia in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle Ages (Giudicati period) and Terranova Pausania before the 1940s, Olbia was again the official name of the town after the period of Fascism. It is the economic centre of this part of the island (commercial centres, food industry) and is very close to the famous Costa Smeralda tourist area. It is an administrative capital (together with Tempio Pausania) of the province of Olbia-Tempio, operative since 2005.

History

Olbia (the name is of Greek origin) is very ancient and was possibly founded by the Greeks, according to a local legend. It contains ruins from prehistoric times (Phoenician settlement) to the Roman Era, when it was an important port, and the Middle Ages, when it was the capital of the Giudicato of Gallura, one of the four independent states of Sardinia.

Main sights

• the Romanesque former cathedral of San Simplicio (11th-12th centuries).

Transportation

Olbia is the main connection between Sardinia and the Italian peninsula, with an airport (Olbia - Costa Smeralda), a passenger port (Olbia-Isola Bianca), and a railway to Porto Torres and Cagliari. There are an expressway to Nuoro and Cagliari (SS131) and national roads to Sassari (SS199-E840), Tempio Pausania (SS127), and Palau (SS125).

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Olbia".