The ancient medieval village of Lollove, 15 kilometers from Nuoro, becomes part of the elite of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

The board of directors of the association, which brings together small Italian towns to safeguard their history and traditions, after a recent inspection, gave a positive result to the application presented a month ago by the municipal administration.

The village, which experienced a massive depopulation in the mid-60s, now has less than 15 inhabitants and retains the medieval structure and the ancient forms of the ancient Sardinian rural villages: small houses made of stone and earth, of which few are inhabited.

The other houses are abandoned ruins on which stands a seventeenth-century church, the former late-Gothic parish church dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena. The medieval village in the 1950s came to host about 540 residents who lived mainly from activities related to agriculture and sheep, pig and cattle breeding. Grazia Deledda set the novel "The Mother" (1920) there, while today the village lives again with the "Autumn in Barbagia" event and thanks to the local tourist association, "Lollovers", the community created by the residents that fights against depopulation proposing, every day, mini experiential tours to make known the traditions of the place and creating events.

Now, with the prestigious award, Lollove will appear in the 2022 Guide of the association in the section of the Sardinian villages - joining Atzara, Bosa, Carloforte, Castelsardo, La Maddalena, Posada and Sadali - and in the spring the ceremony for the delivery of the certificate and flag.

"Lollove represents a part of our past and it is our duty to safeguard and enhance it, making it known more and more outside our borders - underlines the mayor of Nuoro, Andrea Soddu - The prestigious recognition by the association confirms that the decision to invest on culture and knowledge, on the promotion of our history and on the environment, is the right one and pushes us to continue on this path ".

"It is a place where you can breathe history - comments the Councilor for Rural Development and Agriculture, Valeria Romagna - an ancient rural settlement not far from the capital that still retains all its characteristics and reminds us that we must take care of it, which the administration will do ".