A town with two souls — this is San Teodoro, resting on the solid granite of Gallura and stretching toward the white limestone of Baronia. The new territorial reorganization of Sardinia, which has divided the island into eight provinces, has returned San Teodoro to the newly formed province of Gallura, administratively separating it from the more distant Nuoro. At least on paper, since during the summer the town teems with visitors coming from the provincial capital and the rest of Nuoro.

The settlement patterns of San Teodoro followed those of most towns in Gallura, which were born from the clustering of “stazzi” — traditional rural stone dwellings. Until 1970, the town’s economy was still fully tied to the land and the sea, but the tourism boom driven by the Costa Smeralda and Porto Rotondo unleashed an unstoppable wave of change.

Faced with the sudden demand from the tourism market, the resourceful locals rolled up their sleeves and gave rise to a new version of San Teodoro: a town built on the scale of a stazzo, with low houses, roofs made of terracotta tiles, muted colors, and stone cladding that harmonized with the surrounding landscape.

Coming from Olbia, about 28 km away, San Teodoro is heralded by its beautiful lagoon, home to a large population of flamingos. A quick left turn and a small bridge crossing lead directly into the town center, which has grown around the parish church of San Teodoro, overlooking Piazza Gallura.