Inside at the “Ortobene”
Mount Ortobene is the principal landscape landmark and symbolic reference of the city of Nuoro. More than a natural feature, the mountain is deeply embedded in the collective memory of the local community. Nobel Prize-winning writer Grazia Deledda described this relationship with words that still capture the intimate and visceral bond between the city and its mountain: “Ortobene is unique in the world: it is our heart, it is our soul.”
Surrounded by a dense forest of holm oaks and oaks, the granite massif has long been a place for walking, contemplation and summer retreat for the people of Nuoro.
The intervention is located within the summit area known as the Anello (“Ring”), the road that encircles the mountain top and along which the main public spaces and services are concentrated. At the centre of this system stands the Church of Nostra Signora de su Monte, a small rural sanctuary dating back to the seventeenth century and closely associated with the tradition of the “cumbessias”. Nearby begins the historic route leading to the Statue of the Redeemer, one of the most significant landmarks of central Sardinia and of the city of Nuoro itself.
The project originates from the desire to remove walking from the asphalt road of the Anello and return it to the forest, relocating pedestrian movement into a slow and immersive pathway capable of re-establishing a direct relationship with the natural substance of Mount Ortobene. The new trail connects the entrance to the Redeemer Path with the church forecourt through an accessible route that winds among trees, exposed granite outcrops and gentle changes in elevation, allowing people with reduced mobility to reach the religious complex without architectural barriers.
The articulated geometry of the pathway derives directly from the site's topography and from the search for the gentlest possible gradients. The route continuously adapts to the existing natural features, avoiding any significant alteration of the landscape: no trees were removed and no rock outcrops were displaced for the construction of the trail. Architecture therefore assumes the character of a minimal infrastructure inserted into the forest through adaptation rather than imposition.
The project alternates sections dedicated to movement with spaces for rest and contemplation, defined by paved clearings and monolithic seating elements. The material palette was chosen to establish continuity with the colours of the woodland floor and with the historic landscape interventions found on Mount Ortobene and along the Redeemer Path. Stabilised earth forms the walking surface, contained by corten steel edging. Resting areas are paved with irregularly laid purple trachyte slabs, while kerbs and seating elements share the same stone materiality.
In the most sensitive areas, close to exposed rocks and tree root systems, the pavement dissolves into a lightweight grid of steel bars left to oxidise naturally. This solution adapts to the terrain and weaves between trees and stones without altering their configuration.
Protective and orientation elements are likewise conceived as minimal signs within the landscape. Slender steel railings emerge from the ground, accompanying visitors along the route and helping to define the path without interrupting the visual continuity of the forest.
The project does not create an autonomous object, but rather proposes a new way of traversing Mount Ortobene. The trail becomes an instrument of reconnection between community and landscape: a slow and discreet infrastructure capable of restoring centrality to the experience of walking and to the sensory dimension of the forest.
