Baunei falls within the Sardinian "Blue Zone", one of the five areas in the world where people statistically live the longest. Tziu Ferrandu, born in 1904, was still herding his goats at 103 along the very same trails that trekkers follow today. The secret? According to gerontologists, a combination of genetics, a diet based on pane carasau, pecorino and Cannonau wine, and above all the daily physical activity demanded by the sheer verticality of the terrain.
The church of San Nicola has its main entrance facing north rather than west, which is extremely rare in Christian sacred architecture. Local legend has it that the oxen carrying the building stones refused to follow the planned route and came to a halt at the current spot: the people of Baunei decided to go along with the animals.
Until the 1960s, the shepherds of Baunei used a whistle-based communication system (similar to the "Silbo Gomero" of the Canary Islands) to talk to one another across the opposing slopes of the Supramonte. Each family had its own distinctive whistle-signature.
The Golgo plateau is home to "Su Sterru", the deepest karst sinkhole in Europe (approximately 270 metres). Here too stands the rural church of San Pietro, where every June a festival is celebrated with kid roasted over fires lit on bare rock. It is one of the few places in Sardinia where the ancient "a carraxiu" cooking technique (underground) is still practised.