Tempio Pausania (; ) is a town of about 14,000 inhabitants in the

Gallura Gallura ( or ; ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy. The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area". Geography Gallùra has an area of . It is from the Italian peninsula and from the French island of Corsica. ...

region of northern

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, in the

province of Sassari The province of Sassari (; ; ; ; ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia, Italy. Its capital was the city of Sassari. On 1 April 2025, the province was suppressed in favor of the new Metropolitan City of Sassari, which corres ...

. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

History

Cultural and delegated administrative centre of the Gallura sub-region, Tempio has an ancient history. Typical

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

-stone architecture of the historical centre presents many similarities with southern

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

n towns. From 2005 - 2016 it was the capital of the

province of Olbia-Tempio The province of Olbia-Tempio (; ; ) was a province in the autonomous region of Sardinia, Italy. It had two provincial capitals, Olbia (58,723 inhabitants) and Tempio Pausania (14,342 inhabitants). As of 2015, the province had a total population o ...

together with

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

Main sights

* Historical centre of the town, built in grey granite blocks (mainly 18th century); particularly Corso Matteotti, via Roma (''Carrera Longa'', ''Lu Runzatu'', ''Lu Pultali''), Piazza d'Italia (''Piazza di l'Ara''), Parco delle Rimembranze, Fonte Nuova (''Funtana Noa'') and Parco di San Lorenzo, via Mannu (ex via dei Nobili or dei Cavalieri) * Nuraghe Maiori (''Naracu Maiori'') * Nuraghe Polcu (''Naracu Polcu'') * Ruins of Palace of Giudice Nino Visconti di Gallura (1200) * San Pietro (''Santu Petru'') Cathedral; * Santa Croce Church; * Oratorio del Rosario (13th–14th century); * Palazzo Villamarina-Pes (17th century); * Palazzo degli Scolopi, (17th century), actually Provincial offices; * Purgatorio (''Lu Pulgatoriu'') Church (17th century) * Fonti di Rinagghju * Monte Limbara, elevation , south of the town.

Transport

Tempio Pausania has national roads with

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

(SS 672), Olbia (SS127) and

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

(SS133). There is a railway station on the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Sassari to Palau line, with occasional tourist train services run by Trenino Verde.

Climate

References

Sources