Villasimius (; sro, Crabonaxa ), is a ''

comune 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 ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of South Sardinia The Province of South Sardinia ( it, provincia del Sud Sardegna; sc, provìntzia de Sud Sardigna) is an Italian province of Sardinia instituted on 4 February 2016. It includes the suppressed provinces of Province of Carbonia-Iglesias, Carbonia- ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region 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 ...

, located about east of

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

History

Due to its strategically important site, Villasimius' territory was inhabited since prehistoric times, as testified by

nuraghe The nuraghe (, ; plural: Logudorese Sardinian , Campidanese Sardinian , Italian ), or also nurhag in English, is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia, developed during the Nuragic Age between 1900 and 730 B.C. ...

(19th-6th centuries BC), Phoenician-

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...

(7th-2nd centuries BC) and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

(3rd century BC-6th century AD) remains. During the

giudicati The Judicates (, or in Sardinian, in Latin, or in Italian), in English also referred to as Sardinian Kingdoms, Sardinian Judgedoms or Judicatures, were independent states that took power in Sardinia in the Middle Ages, between the ninth an ...

(Sardinian kingdoms), Aragonese and Spanish reigns, the territory suffered numerous pirate raids and became increasingly depopulated. The village name was, at least from the 13th century, Carbonara; this was repopulated from the early 19th century when it was under the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

-Piedmont, becoming a comune in 1838. Villasimius' economy was traditionally based on agriculture and shepherding and, from 1875 to the extraction of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies undergro ...

. Its tourism industry began in the late 1960s and is now Villasimius' main economic activity. In 1998 the

Capo Carbonara Cape Carbonara (Italian: ''Capo Carbonara'', Sardinian: ''Cabo Crabonaxa'') is a promontory on the southeastern tip of Sardinia, Italy, which forms the eastern end of the Gulf of Cagliari. Together with the nearby Cavoli Island and Serpentara Is ...

National Marine Park was created. It encompasses all the waters surrounding the headlands in the eastern Gulf of Cagliari, from Villasimius' western border with

Solanas Solanas is a small village administrated by Sinnai, in the province of Cagliari. Position Solanas is located in the south coast of Sardinia at ~36 km east from Cagliari, and at ~16 km west from Villasimius. It is administrated by Sinn ...

, to its northern border with

Castiadas Castiadas is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, located about east of Cagliari. Founded in the 14th century and repopulated in the 19th century after centuries of abandonment, it is part ...

Main sights

Beaches

The area's most important beache

are Cala Burroni, Cala Caterina, Campus, Piscadeddus, Porto Giunco, Porto Sa Ruxi, Punta Molentis, Simius, Spiaggia del Riso, Timi Ama.

References

External links

Official websiteMuseo Archeologico, Ufficio Turistico e Servizi Culturali a Villasimius
Cities and towns in Sardinia {{Sardinia-geo-stub