History
Just as in many other areas of our beautiful Sardinia, the history of Capoterra is marked by clashes and destruction because of the invaders who have followed one upon the other. Nevertheless, every time, the town have risen from the ashes.
The archaeological finds discovered in this area show that first inhabitants date back to the Nuragic period or even before, but there are also Punic and Roman traces.
Except after the town centre was completely destroyed during the war between the Aragonese and the Judge-Princess of Arborea (resulting in an interruption of the three centuries), this area has always been inhabited. In 1655, the Torellas built Villa di Sant'Efisio (St.Efisio village), in the saint's honour. Meanwhile, the only inhabitants of this area were the Basilian monks, hermits who lived in the present day hamlet of Santa Barbara, the little church dedicated to the saint can still be visited.
This territory began to take its current from in the feudal period, its agriculture in particular being developed thanks to the new methods introduced by Stefano Manca Marchese (Marquis) di Villahermosa.
Feudalism ended with the Editto delle chiudende, an enclosure act stipulated by King Charles Albert of Savoy in 1823.
The rest of the story is similar all over the island and southern Italy: the agricultural upturn during the Fascist regime, then the war, post bellic reconstruction and finally industrial development. These are the events that contributed to the economic transformation of the town centre: first, the San Leone mines, working from 1840 until 1963, that led to the building of the first Sardinian railway, which was to bring iron down to the coast at the Maddalena beach; then, the salt works at Macchiareddu which are still active (you can see its white pyramids from the marshes of Santa Gilla); and most recently, the full-scale industrial development of Macchiareddu, the first of its kind in Sardinia's history.
Old traditions survive together with a modern lifestyle, and the town extends from the slopes of the mountain, lapping on the coast and along the lagoon.