The Santa Giusta Lagoon – Italy - Atlas Obscura

The Santa Giusta Lagoon

The third largest lagoon in Sardinia is the historic home of the Is Fassõis reed boats. 

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This brackish water lagoon close to Oristano, on the west coast of Sardinia, is notable for many reasons. As well as the natural spectacle  of the massive, yet enclosed, water body its wild life (it is part of a recognised Ramsar site consisting of 5 lagoons), history and cultural importance provide a reason to visit whatever the time of year but (as will be outlined below) the first Sunday in August is most popular.

Additional to these historic and cultural features the area is also attractive  to foodies. The most typical local product,  which originates from fish caught in this lagoon, smoked mullet roe or Bottarga, makes the towns and villages surrounding the water a gourmets delight (it is often served grated onto a dish of pasta with clams).

Most of the mullet used to be caught in the lagoon but, due to current high demand,  most mullet roe is now imported. The fish used to be caught commercially from small boats made up from bundles of reeds (Is fassõis or fassonis, meaning “the sheaves”), on which the operator stands to propel the vessel with a long pole (cantoni), actually three long , thick, reeds bound together. Today the fishing is done from a wooden boat called a “cuis”. As well as mullet, crabs and eels are economically important.

The reed boats have been described  as the forrunner to the stand up paddleboard and are thought to be based on a pre-Phoenician design (although Phoenicians are known to have used them).  At the Point where the pin is dropped is a statue depicting one of these historic  fishermen standing on his fassone (singular of the alternative name meaning “big sheaf”). The fassone also has the facility to be propelled with oars and every year, on the 1st Sunday in August, the tradition is kept alive by the  Santa Giusta community by means of a regatta in which both poleing and rowing  races are held between  fassonis on the lagoon.

Other historic interest of the lagoon  includes an old Roman bridge which used to cross the old course of the channel between the Santa Giusa Lagoon and the, adjacent,  Pauli Maiori Lagoon. It lies directly alongside the SP56 road near the modern bridge which crosses the current channel. The road it carried was one of the two oldest north to south roads in Sardinia between the current cities of Porto Torres and Cagliari. Locally the road carried important traffic between the ancient port of Orthoca and Carales. 

Othoca, an ancient Phoenician colony about 2,600 years ago, has partly evolved into the current modern-day town of Santa Giusta. However,  most remnants of the original settlement lie buried under a thick layer of sediment at the bottom of the lagoon.Historians  believe the lagoon was once the harbour of the port of Othoca, used by the Phoenicians as a staging post on their famous maritime voyages and, although  there have been some important  finds already, the lagoon now awaits an archaeological study to modern standards.

Know Before You Go

A wildlife hide is close to the location and parking can be found there.

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