Colours and winding lanes, tall narrow houses, gorgeous ice cream and a small angel with a water bowl.
Bosa is, among other things, a town with a delightful medieval centre. It is filled with multicoloured houses, nestling at the foot of an old castle towering on the hill on one side and a quiet flowing river on the other.
In the old part of the town centre, the streets and lanes are narrow and the houses are tall and narrow. So slender there seems to be space for only one room per floor. Or actually, not small if you consider they build upwards; some houses are up to 5 storeys tall. I assume when space is cramped you can only build in one direction, up.
The winding and narrow medieval part
The town grew up around the foot of the castle, for protection presumably. In this medieval part of the town the alleys and lanes and steps are narrow. In parts, winding and only accessible by foot. Or by the odd optimistic three wheeled scooter/lorry ape (apixedda as they are called on Sardinia, meaning ‘little bee’).
You can walk up to the castle via these lanes. It’s a fun adventure to guess which path will take you there in the end, and it is a wonderful method of exploring the old town of Bosa. You’ll see houses with doors shorter than the height of a normal human being (who were these doors for, I wonder), houses in all kinds of colours and with windows positioned in such a way that you wonder how the floors are organised inside.
Walking up this maze of small lanes the only living beings we encountered were some little kitties playing among the narrow, crooked houses and one older lady dressed in the traditional black clothing of this island.
A castle, a view and an angel inside the door
The 12th century Malaspina castle has a walkway around the ramparts surrounding the castle. It gives spectacular views of Bosa, the coast and the hills behind. For me the most interesting part of the castle was the little church on the castle grounds. Chiesa di Nostra Signora di Regnos Altos. It is small, but has some interesting frescoes of different saints, even St George and the dragon in fight. What caught my eye is a small angel ‘holding’ a tiny bowl of holy water on the wall just beside the door when you step in. Such a simple, but beautiful decoration.
Ice cream and wobbly chairs
After, a walk up and around the castle. And then down again. On a hot day in June, the tall buildings in the town gave a welcomed shadow. Even better, the sight of an open ice cream parlour/café with seating out on the narrow street. Sitting here with a generous helping of gorgeous ice-cream – which it took some time to choose as the selection was so great – is the perfect reward after that stroll up and down to the castle.
The street is a mix of cobbled and paved stones and is not exactly flat. The chair needs to be positioned carefully, so it sits on the flat stones rather than the cobbles – otherwise we’re in for a wobble.
Lunch time traffic and people spotting
Over an ice cream, this is a perfect place to watch the lunch-time happenings of a little town lane. Delivery for a restaurant, a little van just squeezing by almost touching the tables, offloading tins of tomatoes and olive oil.
Some people walking past, those with cameras, sun hats and sandals – presumably tourists. Some presumably local with much more hurried steps rushing past, maybe led by a rumbling stomach for mum’s home cooked lunch.
There are some interesting looking shops, but all closed unfortunately as it is lunchtime, they will have to be explored on another occasion.
There is an interesting looking church front just around the corner. The door is huge and bright green with gorgeous carvings on them. This is Bosa’s cathedral (Cattedrale dell’Immacolata). It is also closed unfortunately, so I’d have to come back for that one too. Apparently the interior has beautiful marble-work.
River activities
Bosa basically sits on the banks of the river Temo. The only river in Sardinia you can navigate a boat on. Because of this, there are many boats of different types moored along the town centre. On the opposite riverbank, next to the Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio) there’s a place for launching or even renting kayaks. The river seems to be popular for rowing too as there were some boats out for a little voyage.
When it gets too hot to explore in town or you need to chill a bit, the coast line and the beach are close by. Just follow the river for about 2km to Bosa Marina and you’re there, in beach holiday land.
Lots of love,
Bee
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https://www.sardegnaturismo.it/en/places/nord-ovest/bosa
https://www.blualghero-sardinia.com/en/north-sardinia/bosa-sardinia/
Some facts:
The name Bosa is likely to have come from Phoenician. These people had a talent for navigation, and here they found shelter for their ships in the river outlet of the river Temo.
What we see today is the medieval town set below the castle of Serravalle, built by the Malaspina family in 1112. And it is around this time that the population began to move along the right bank of the river Temo. The area closer to the sea was deemed dangerous because of Arab pirate raids. The town and the castle maintained a state of self-government for a long time.
But the area around what today is the town was already inhabited in ancient times. Evidence suggests it dates back to the copper and neolithic age.
In 1499 it became a Royal City with all the burdens and honours that this recognition brought onto its inhabitants.
Most of the town centre as we see it today grew up from 1800. A port was also constructed at the mouth of the river Temo (the river is currently navigable by smaller boats).
Well worth a visit is also the natural swimming pool of Can’e Malu, just outside the port of Bosa. It is made made up of bright rocks and turquoise-coloured water. And about seven kilometres North of the river mouth is the Torre Argentina with small coves surrounding it.
Thank you to Velasquez Logbooks for writing the facts