St Peter’s Church is one of the most important examples of romanic architecture in Sardinia.
This church is situated on the site of the former Bosa “Vetus”, the ancient roman settlement, near the left bank of the river Temo.
This place was settled in the Phoenician-Punican period and also later in the roman period, documented by roman inscriptions in the former church floor which existed until 1800.
The name “extra-muros” refers to the fact that the building is situated “outside the walls” of the new Bosa, today protected by the castle.
The church was built as a cathedral when the town became diocese in 1060.
After the construction on the Serravalle hill by the marquesses of the noble house of Malaspina, the population left the old settlement around the church and transfered their homes to the slope between the castle and the river.
The building is in the form of a basilica with a central nave and two smaller aisles
The ceiling of the central nave has a beam construction, while the lateral aisles form a transept.
The church was constructed after a long process in three phases: the first between 1062-1073, when the central body was built in Romanic-Longobardic style; in the 12th century were added the apse, the tower and the four bows at southwest. Then at north-west end and the facade was added, a work of cisterciensic monks in the gothic style with remaining Romanic elements, like the small temple on the top of the facades triangle.
Uniquely the architrave is made of white chalk while the rest of the facade is in red trachyte.
On it is shown, beginning at left and separated by simplified floreal ornaments: St. Paul, St. Constantine, St. Mary with the Child and St. Peter. Of interest are the rests of old downpipes representing with the symbols of four evangelists: St. Mathew (the angel), St. Marcus (the crowned lion), St. Lucas (the hoof of an ox) and St. John (the eagle).
In the interior of the church, on the pillar with the font, there is a latin inscription placed by the bishop Constantine de Castra, remembering the consecration of the building in 1073 (MLXXIII).
The two statues (St. Peter and St. Paul) are not original, the true ones (from the 17th century) are located actually in the new cathedral on each side of the altar.
In Bosa there are three three permanent settings of historical and artistic value: the Casa Deriu, the Museo Melis, and the Museo Atza, joined during the year by many other temporary exhibitions.
The Uras-Chelo builinding, erroneously known as Casa Deriu, is a classical example of a XVII century bourgeois house.
Among the floors of the building, the second one is certainly of greater interest than the others with its fine decorations.
The second floor hosts the master bedroom and the living rooms. The living rooms give a chance to admire the original furniture, the wooden floor and the wall carpets.
The first and the third floor of the house host permanent exhibitions: on the third floor there is an exhibition in honour of Melchiorre Melis (1889-1982), a famous painter and ceramist from Bosa.
The exhibition shows a great numer of works covering the whole artistic experience of the painter. Manufactures and paintings from the period the painter spent in Africa are of great attraction. A special note deserves the studies onto pottery with applications of Sardinian tradinional handcrafts.
Paintings from the period the painter spent in Rome are also part of the display, togeher with some works from his involvement in design.
The exhibitions is completed by a set of letters written by the artist during his entire life.
In the building opposite the "Casa Deriu" houses, there is the permanent exhibition of the paintings from Antonio Atza (1925).
Besides paintings from Atza dating since 1940, there is a collection from other Sardinian painters giving a good idea of the state of paint and graphic arts in Sardinia from 1900 to the present days.
Another museum is Cappuccini monastery, built in 1608. In the same year the nearby church of "Santa Maria degli Angeli" was built.
The monks left the monastery in 1867 when it was confiscated by the government and converted into a relief-house for the poor.
Now the monastery is often the site of temporary exhibitions.
Arriving at Bosa along the coast road for Alghero, the first beach is after Capo Marargiu.
The beach of Porto Managu, situated in front of the homonymous little island, is the first real beach of Bosa which can be reached by a dirt road, not indicated en route, on the right near a wide open space.
A little further along is a slightly hidden flight of steps which leads to Cala Compoltittu, which has a little beach and some large flat rocks on which it is possible to sun-bathe. The descents to the beaches are interrupted here for about 3-4 kilometres approximately.
A small parking area indicates the presence of the beach called "Tentizzos" which is a pebble beach and flat rock area. Another parking space along the road indicates the beach called "The Argentine Tower beach". It is an easy to reach inlet, lying in a many-coloured coast which, morphologically, presents stretches of rocky area, pebbles and sand.
The immaculate sea dephts around the tower give the sea its intense blue colour in strong contrast with the candid rocks, thus making it one the most suggestive corners of the coast.
After about two kilometres is the spiaggia of S'Abba Druche, which is the most popular beach area to the north of the village.
It's an equipped beach, not recommended for those people who prefer solitary bays, but, from this beach it's possible to take a pathway (30 minutes to the south) which leads to Cala Rapina which on the other hand is extremely secluded.
At the entry to Bosa a croass-road, going to left, goes to the village whilst going to the right to the quarter of Sas Covas. Going beyond Ponte Nuovo over the Temo River you come upon the Tower of the Isola Rossa, from which stretches out the long beach of Bosa Marina.
During the summer months these beachs are literally invaded by local people and tourists alike, thanks to its dimension, its clear water and its vicinity to the village centre of Bosa.
Along the road to Tresnuraghes is the beach of Turas, the last lido of the municipality of Bosa. The road then continues in the beach of Porto Alabe.
In Bosa there are three main festivals during the year: the Carnival, Santa Maria del Mare and Regnos Altos.
The Carnival of Bosa is, with no doubt, the most involving, trasgressive and funny festival throughout the year.
The most busy days are the conventional days of the carnival: on the Fat Thursday a parade of carts is held; on the Saturday there is the celebration of the cellars and many of these, located in the ancient town, are open to the public; the last day of the Carnival is the Fat Tuesday and this is the day of the two most known happenings of this festival.
The first happening is "S'Attitidu" when people get dressed in black in the morning and walk around crying and asking the ladies from the public for a tip of milk. This happening has an heavy sexual background.
The second happening is called "Giolzi" and starts in the evening. People at Giolzi get dressed in white with bed linens and run around the town centre in groups looking for the king of the Carnival, Giolzi infact.
More or less every group has a puppet representing the king and at some point in the night, the puppet is burned on the roads. These fires state the end of the Carnival.
Visitors coming to Bosa upon the Carnival get intimately involved in this festival as they are part of the crowd laughing and drinking in a very happy mood, not certainly acting as a spectator.
The hospitality and generosity of the people from Bosa is shown in its fullness: fried cakes are distribuites to everyone together with traditional Sardinian pastry and the excellent local wine.
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The festival dedicated to the "Madonna del Mare", the Virgin of the Sea, is held on the first Sunday of August. The origins of this festival come from the finding made by local fishermen of a statue of the Holy Mary which may have been a figurehead of some ship wreck. This is statue was then taken to the Church of St Paul in Bosa Marina.
During the festival, an attracting parade of boats flows on the river Temo and one of them takes the statue from Bosa Marina to the Cathedral in Bosa.
In the evening, the statue is taken back to its usual site. During the Sunday night, Bosa Marina hosts a market with products of many kinds.
The end of the festival is marked by a show of fireworks on the main beach and spectators are delighted by enchanting showers of lights in the dark sky
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On the second Sunday of September the festival of "Nostra Signora di Regnos Altos" is held. This festival is in honour of the Holy Mary of the church of the Castle Malaspina. During the days preceding the event, the roads of the old town "Sa Costa", located below the castel, are dressed with reeds and braches while small altars with the Holy Mary on them are set up.
The altars are also embellished with typical covers sewed with the technique known as filet. During these nights typical local food is served along the roads of "Sa Costa".
The festival attracts visitors from all over the island and is introduced by musical shows, itinering scenes and parades of people wearing the old dresses of the town.
A very funny event not to be missed is also the rapresentation of scenes of life coming from the medievals days.
On the saturday, the party goes on all night long and the festival finishes on the Sunday when the holy mass is celebrated in the Church of the Castle.