The Goceano ( sc, Costèra) is a historical and geographical region of center-north of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian language, Italian, Corsican language, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese dialect, Algherese and Catalan languag ...

island, Italy. It covers a surface of 480 km² and has a population of 13,000 inhabitants (27 inhabitants/km²). It is located inside the

Province of Sassari The province of Sassari ( it, provincia di Sassari, sc, provìntzia de Tàtari, sdc, prubìnzia di Sàssari, ca, província de Sàsser, french: province de Sassari, co, pruvincia di Sassari) is a province in the autonomous island region of S ...

, the main urban centres are

Bono, Italy Bono ( sc, Bòno) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and th ...

, considered the traditional Goceano's chieftown,

Anela Anela ( sc, Anèla) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian island region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Anela borders the following municipalities: Bono, Bultei, Nug ...

Benetutti Benetutti ( sc, Benetuti) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Several prehistorical archaeological remains have been discovere ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

Bultei Bultei ( sc, Urtei) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Bultei borders the following municipalities: Anela, Benetutti, Bono, ...

Nule Nule ( sc, Nùle) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Nule borders the following municipalities: Benetutti, Bitti, Orune Or ...

Esporlatu Esporlatu ( sc, Isporlatu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Esporlatu borders the following municipalities: Bottidda, Burgo ...

Illorai Illorai is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Illorai borders the following municipalities: Bolotana, Bonorva, Bottidda, Burgos ...

and

Bottidda Bottidda ( sc, Bòtidda) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Bottidda borders the following municipalities: Bono, Bonorva, Bur ...

. The territory is characterised by wooded mountains and alluvial valleys, the Marghine Chain (highest peak:

Monte Rasu Monte Rasu is a mountain in the Goceano's range, in the province of Sassari, central west Sardinia, Italy. Its summit, called ''sa Punta Manna'' (1,259 m), is the highest peak in the province of Sassari. The mount is surrounded by the w ...

1259 metres) and the Tirso Valley. Burgos_(Italy)_-_panorama

History

According to the Sardinian historian

Giovanni Francesco Fara Giovanni Francesco Fara (February 4, 1543 - 1591) was a Sardinian historian, geographer and clergyman,http://www.filologiasarda.eu/didattica/schede/slides.php?sez=37&id=560&didaSec=letteratura who wrote in Latin. Biography Giovanni Francesco Far ...

(1543–1591) the Goceano, in Latin ''Gothianus'', takes its name from the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

, some of whom settled down in the region during the Middle Ages. The region is historically characterised by the Castle of

, built in 1134 by the

Giudice of Logudoro The kings or ''judges'' (''iudices'' or ''judikes'') of Logudoro (or Torres) were the local rulers of the ''locum de Torres'' or region (province) around Porto Torres, the chief northern port of Sardinia, during the Middle Ages. :''The identity, ...

Gonario II of Torres Gonario II (also spelled ''Gonnario'' or ''Gunnari''; died between 1180 and 1190) was the '' giudice'' of Logudoro (a kingdom in Sardinia) from the death of his father to his own abdication in 1154. He was a son of Constantine I and Marcusa de Guna ...

. The castle was considered in the 14th century "one of the strongest and efficient forts of Sardinia". The King

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV, ; an, Pero, ; es, Pedro, . In Catalan, he may also be nicknamed ''el del punyalet'': "he of the little dagger". ( Catalan: ''Pere IV''; 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''el Cerimoniós''), ...

appointed

Marianus IV of Arborea Marianus IV (in Sardinian: Marianu IV de Arbarèe, in Catalan: Marià IV d'Arborea, 1319–1376), called the Great, was the Judge (king) of Arborea, kingdom in the island of Sardinia, from 1347 to his death. He was, as his nickname indica ...

as Count of Goceano, in 1339. He held the fief and the castle also after his crowning as

giudice of Arborea The Kings or ''Judges'' (from the Latin ''iudices'' and the Sardinian ', "judges," the title of the Byzantine officials left behind when Imperial power receded in the West) of the Arborea were the local rulers of the west of Sardinia during t ...

. In 1410, after the defeat of Arborea in the war against the

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon ...

, the Goceano became a fiefdom ruled by Leonardo Cubello.

Francesco Cesare Casula Francesco Cesare Casula (born 12 September 1933) is a Sardinian historian from Italy. Biography Born in Livorno, Casula lived there until 1949 when, because of his father's death caused by an Allied bombardment of the city, his entire family ...

, ''Dizionario storico sardo'', "Gocèano (o di Burgos), castello di]"

Notes

Bibliography

* S. Chessa, ''Le Dimore rurali in Sardegna, con particolare riferimento al Monteacuto, al Goceano, al Meilogu e alla Gallura'', Cargeghe, Documenta, 2008. * Vittorio Angius, voce ''Goceano'', in Goffredo Casalis, ''Dizionario geografico, storico, statistico, commerciale degli Stati di S.M. il Re di Sardegna'', 1841. *

, ''Dizionario storico sardo'', edizione riveduta ed ampliata Cagliari, L'Unione Sarda, 2006, . {{Coord, 40, 25, N, 9, 00, E, dim:20000_region:IT_source:itwiki, display=title Geography of Sardinia Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy