Cultural olive landscapes in the Royal Cities of North West Sardinia

""In the open sea of land of Sardinia, cultural islands rise above as a green belt of intensive agriculture (hortus) which surrounds cities. The Kingdom of Aragon, which dominated the island of Sardinia during the XIII-XVIII centuries, was planned around the royal walled cities of Sassari, Alghero and Bosa. Here, olive groves were the first land use. . \\tThe same agricultural framework continued until the XX century during the Sardinia-Piedmont kingdom. The nineteenth middle class, peri-urban landowners, employed peasant workers to manage the olive groves. The olive oil industry was the most important and longest established in the Sassari economy. Between 1920 and 1977 urban development caused the decline of the olive stands due to density reduction or land use change, with the final result that almost 100,000 olive trees disappeared over the course of 50 years. The decline can be perceived along the internal limit of the ring caused by urban expansion, and in several locations within the ring itself, due the development of small villages and the transformation of the olive grove into a garden (sprawl effect). . \\tSassari's agricultural past survives in the Candelieri dancing parade, where following an old tradition, arts and crafts guilds carry votive candles dedicated to the Madonna on their shoulders. The Candeliere of the Horticultural Guild, the oldest, is decorated with olive leaves.. . . ""

In the open sea of land of Sardinia, cultural islands rise above as a green belt of intensive agriculture (hortus) which surrounds cities. The Kingdom of Aragon, which dominated the island of Sardinia during the XIII-XVIII centuries, was planned around the royal walled cities of Sassari, Alghero and Bosa. Here, olive groves were the first land use. The same agricultural framework continued until the XX century during the Sardinia-Piedmont kingdom. The nineteenth middle class, peri-urban landowners, employed peasant workers to manage the olive groves. The olive oil industry was the most important and longest established in the Sassari economy. Between 1920 and 1977 urban development caused the decline of the olive stands due to density reduction or land use change, with the final result that almost 100,000 olive trees disappeared over the course of 50 years. The decline can be perceived along the internal limit of the ring caused by urban expansion, and in several locations within the ring itself, due the development of small villages and the transformation of the olive grove into a garden (sprawl effect). Sassari's agricultural past survives in the Candelieri dancing parade, where following an old tradition, arts and crafts guilds carry votive candles dedicated to the Madonna on their shoulders. The Candeliere of the Horticultural Guild, the oldest, is decorated with olive leaves.