SGT
Cerexa de Burcei
Nestled on the eastern slope of Mount Serpeddì, Burcei is home to a treasure trove of biodiversity: the cherry, recognised as a Traditional Agri-Food Product (PAT) and in the process of being registered in the Sardinia Region’s Agrobiodiversity Register. Cultivated for generations without irrigation or chemical treatments, it grows on small family plots in the so-called Cherry Valley, 75 hectares with over 20,000 plants. In this historic valley there are about ten different varieties, including sa niedda, sa barracocca, sa carovalli, sa comuna and sa turca, often present in the same soil and even on the same plant grafted with more than one variety. In Burcei, cherries are harvested strictly by hand, at the perfect stage of ripeness. Every year, in late spring, the Cerexa Fest celebrates this fruit: the town comes alive with stalls filled with fresh cherries and jams, traditional music, and folk games, in a tribute to rural culture and the tenacity of those who preserve a living and authentic tradition.
Sa cantada campidanesa e su cantadori Fieli Urru
Burcei holds an intangible treasure of great value: sa cantada campidanesa, one of Sardinia’s oldest poetic-musical expressions. This improvised song in the Sardinian language, structured according to precise metrical rules, expresses the collective memory of the Campidano people. During sa cantada, the public poetry competition, the singers challenge each other using different metric forms, including the mutetu, which combines wit and emotional depth and is striking for its complexity.
Raffaele “Fieli” Urru, a much-loved and charismatic figure, made Burcei the capital of Campidano singing. Born in 1931, he began singing in the pastures, soon winning over audiences. Under the guidance of Chichinu Loddi, Fieli Urru became a maestro with an unmistakable style and spirit. His verses intertwined metaphors, irony and sentiment, tradition and the ability to innovate. He died in 1992, leaving a profound mark on Sardinian culture. In 2019, the Municipality of Burcei decided to celebrate his memory with a mural created by the artist Carlo Spano, aka Vamp He-Art. The work portrays Fieli Urru at the height of his art and features one of his most famous mutetus, forever capturing his voice within the walls of the town. Today, young people like Simone Monni and Luigi Zuncheddu passionately carry on this legacy. The nascent Cantadoris Cultural Park, led by Burcei Municipality, aims to protect and enhance the Campidano singing tradition so that new generations can listen to, understand, and pass on the eternal voice of Fieli Urru—and of Sardinia.
The Silver Road
A section of the evocative Silver Road winds through the Burcei area, a hiking and cycling trail that follows the ancient mining mule tracks of Sarrabus. The trail connected eight silver mines of the Ollastu stream, following the course of rivers, valleys and forests for kilometres up to Monte Serpeddì.
The area saw intense mining activity in the 19th century, with the birth of villages and mining plants. Along the route you can still find ruins, old tracks, abandoned wagons and signs of a now-vanished industrial past. In Burcei, the Via dell’Argento begins at Dispensa Brabaìsu, runs alongside the river of the same name for over a kilometre, and then crosses gorges and vertiginous crests. It winds through Mediterranean maquis and juniper woods, amid the sounds of streams and the silence of the mountains. It touches symbolic places such as Cuili s’Arcillòni, the Taccònis mine and Serra ‘e s’Ilixi, crossing landscapes of rare beauty where nature intertwines with the mining past. The Silver Route offers an extraordinary trekking and discovery experience. The hope is that this trail will be fully developed and made increasingly accessible, offering hikers and enthusiasts a natural and historical heritage still waiting to be explored.
