Arzachena

Arzachena (Gallurese: Alzachèna, Sardinian: Altzaghèna) is a town and comune in the province of Olbia-Tempio, northern Sardinia, Italy. Arzachena lies half way between the original Costa Smeralda resort and Porto Rafael, both founded in the late 1950s. After Olbia and Tempio Pausania, it is the third largest commune in Gallura by inhabitants.

The frazione of Porto Cervo is the main resort area of Costa Smeralda for summer tourism, which has replaced agriculture as the local main economical source starting from the 1960s. Nearby there are numerous archaeological sites from the Nuragic period, including those from a local sub-culture known as Arzachena culture (necropolis of Li Muri and others).

History

Located in an area once inhabited by the Arzachena culture, the town has obscure origins. The region was known by the Romans as Turibulum, after a mushroom-shaped rock which is today the symbol of the town.

The oldest mention is from a 1421 document, when king Alfonso IV of Aragon gave it (under the name of Arsaghene) as a fief to one Ramboldo de Cobaria. In the late 16th century it was mostly depopulated, and the current town was re-established in 1716 on a hill by King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy; in 1909 the new village counted 853 inhabitants, which grew substantially after the touristic boom of Costa Smeralda, which originally designed a small stretch of coast in the commune of Arzachena.