Italy
Sea and Sardinia
Known for the luxury haven of Costa Smeralda, the Italian island is poised to become even more popular
with international buyers. Carla Passino tours the pick of Sardinian locations
C
OBALT waters lap dunes of golden sand capped with tufts of gorse, lavender and myrtle in Piscinas, on Sardinia' s western shores. On
the opposite side of the island, fierce waves the colour of wine crash against limestone cliffs, and, further north, a deep turquoise sea washes against a pale pink beach strewn with fragments of coral and shells. Sardinia' s coastline is so magical that it
has prompted some historians to identify it with Scheria, the mythical land of the Phaeacians in Homer' s Odyssey. Whether or not it was really the idyllic home of Princess Nausikaa and King Alkinoos, Sardinia made a lasting impression on the ancient Greeks, who named it the island of the silver veins, and has been attracting interest from foreigners ever since. Often, it was the wrong kind of interest.
Sardinia has known a tumultuous history of invasions. Carthaginians, Romans, Van- dals, Saracens, Aragonese, Spaniards and pirates of every faith and colour sought to conquer the island or ravage its coasts. Such a troubled past, coupled with centu- ries of under-population, accounts for the paucity of period houses along the sea- shore. With the exception of a few fortified strongholds and cliff-top villages, residen- tial development along Sardinia' s coasts mostly took place in the second half of the 20th century, well after the invaders of yore had given way to a new breed of altogether more friendly foreignersÐ travellers and second-home buyers. The first impulse to develop the Sardinian
shoreline came from His Highness The Aga Khan IV, who fell in love with an enchanting stretch of beaches and hillsides that he
The exclusive Cala di Volpe cove in Sardinia' s Costa Smeralda
58 Country Life International, Summer 2011 O
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