The Giara di Gesturi, sc, Sa Jara Manna, is a high, steep-sided basaltic plateau which extends for about in the districts (

comuni The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

) of

Gesturi Gesturi, Gèsturi in the Sardinian language, is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about northeast of Sanluri in the Marmilla area. Gesturi borders th ...

Tuili Tuili is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about northeast of Sanluri. Tuili borders the following municipalities: Barumini, Gesturi, Las Pla ...

and

Setzu Setzu is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northwest of Cagliari and about north of Sanluri. Setzu borders the following municipalities: Genoni, Genuri, Gesturi, Tuili T ...

in the province of Medio Campidano, and

Genoni Genoni ( sc, Geroni) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Oristano. Genoni borders the following municipalities: Albagiara, Asso ...

in the province of

Oristano Oristano (; sc, Aristanis ) is an Italian city and ''comune'', and capital of the Province of Oristano in the central-western part of the island of Sardinia. It is located on the northern part of the Campidano plain. It was established as the pr ...

, in the southern central part of the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, Italy. The plateau was formed some 2.7 million years ago when lava from the cones of Zepparedda () and Zeppara Manna () covered older sedimentary rock. The average height of the plateau is approximately ; it is accessible in only a few places, known as ''scalas'' ("stairs, ladders"). Along the perimeter of the plateau are the remains of 23

Nuraghi The nuraghe (, ; plural: Logudorese dialect, Logudorese Sardinian , Campidanese dialect, Campidanese Sardinian , Italian language, Italian ), or also nurhag in English language, English, is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in ...

; the Nuraghic complex of

Su Nuraxi di Barumini Su Nuraxi is a nuragic archaeological site in Barumini, Sardinia, Italy. ''Su Nuraxi'' simply means "The Nuraghe" in Campidanese, the southern variant of the Sardinian language. Su Nuraxi is a settlement consisting of a seventeenth century BC ...

is a few kilometres to the south.

Monte Arci The Monte Arci is an isolated massif in the Uras plain in Campidano, south-western Sardinia, Italy. It is composed by three volcanic basalt towers, the highest one reaching an elevation of 812 m. The inner part of the massif is composed of ...

, another basaltic geological formation, is located to the west of the Giara di Gesturi. The surface of the Giara di Gesturi has a number of shallow depressions, sc, paulis, some of which are deep enough to hold water year round; the largest of these is the Pauli Maiori (not to be confused with the Ramsar-designated Stagno di Pauli Maiori near Oristano). The soil of the plateau is shallow, rarely exceeding in depth. The Giara di Gesturi is home to over 350 plant species, notably the

Cork oak ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores ...

, and to the majority of the surviving population of the

Giara Horse The Giara horse ( Sardinian: ''Cuaddeddu de sa Jara'', it, Cavallino della Giara) is a horse breed native to the island of Sardinia. It is one of the fifteen indigenous horse "breeds of limited distribution" recognised by the AIA, the It ...

. The whole of the Giara di Gesturi lies within an area which was included in the Regional Plan of Parks and Nature Reserves approved by Regional Law no. 31 of 1989 ( Parco Regionale della Giara, which has a total area of ), but the Park was not subsequently designated.

References

{{coord, 39.76, N, 8.95, E, scale:500000, display=title Landforms of Sardinia Plateaus of Italy