Baunei - Santa Maria Navarrese

Santa Maria Navarrese, the church and the village, belong to the the municipality of Baunei, about 9kms east up high in the mountains (see previous upload).

Santa Maria Navarrese has grown around a church, that dates back to the 11th century. Following a legend, reported by Francesco Angelo de Vico in 1639, a daughter of the King of Navarre took refuge here in 1065, after the area was freed from "barbarian domination" of the Saracens. The princess commissioned the building of a church, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta.

Excavations, undertaken in the early 1960, proved, that a 12m long church in the early times. Even a large Neolithic "cup and ring" stone was found, so that this place has been a cultural spot obviously since thousands of years.

Near the church are some olive trees, that may be as old as the medieval church. A local resident I met claimed, that these olive trees are the oldest on the island of Sardinia. At least!