Also this year, on May 13th and 15th, at the Giovanni Lilliu center in Barumini the appointment with Il Viaggio di Nur, dagli Shardana al Regno d'Italia was renewed with great success, an engaging educational experience that combines study and play, leading students to discover Sardinian history through an original board game created by professor Gianfranco Sperati.
The 2025 edition – the eighth since the project was born in 2017, skipped only in 2020 due to the pandemic – saw the participation of 246 students from the schools of Barumini, Villanovafranca, Tuili, Gesturi, Pabillonis and Sanluri. The days were divided into two distinct moments: on May 13, the fifth-grade classes of the primary school and the first-grade classes of the secondary school played, tackling a historical journey from the pre-Nuragic origins to the Giudicato of Arborea and the Battle of Sanluri; on May 15, it was the turn of the second and third-grade classes of the secondary school, who tried their hand at the entire arc of the game, culminating with the transition from the Kingdom of Sardinia to the Kingdom of Italy.
Among exciting competitions, intense preliminaries and heart-stopping finals, the 1st of Sanluri, led by Professor Gabriella Marras, and the 2nd B of Villamar, led by Professor Annarita Mura, prevailed. “The beauty of the game – explains Sperati – is that nothing is taken for granted: you only save yourself by answering the final questions well. You play with your head and with a pinch of luck. But the best thing is that you learn without realizing it. We can no longer say that Sardinian history is a stranger in school: here it is the protagonist”.
“The Journey of Nur is a way to bring history into the classroom with scientific rigor but also with a great desire for fun,” adds Roberto Scema, director of the Villamar Comprehensive Institute. “It is a project that has demonstrated its value over the years and that deserves maximum support from the scholastic world and institutions.”
Great satisfaction also from the Fondazione Barumini Sistema Cultura, a key partner of the initiative. “Barumini, with its offer, confirms itself as a point of reference for teaching linked to the valorization of the historical and identity heritage of Sardinia”, says Emanuele Lilliu, president of the Foundation. “We are building a bridge between memory and future, and we are doing it by involving the youngest: it is the most beautiful mission we can have”.
