Tortolì – The beating heart of the eastern coast

Tortolì is the capital of Ogliastra, the most populous municipality on the eastern Sardinian coast, embraced by a shoreline that alternates pink granite, golden dunes and stretches of emerald water. Its soul is twofold: on one side the liveliness of Arbatax, the port district with ferries crossing the Tyrrhenian Sea towards Civitavecchia and Genoa, and on the other the quietude of a city that has preserved deep roots — in the flavours of the hinterland, in the slow rhythms of the market, in the devotion to San Gemiliano, patron saint of the community. The famous Red Rocks, blocks of fire-red porphyry rising directly from the sea at the port of Arbatax, have become the iconic symbol of the entire region.

The economic history of Tortolì is shaped by the Paper Mill — the paper manufacturing plant established in the post-war period that for decades represented the main employer in the area, moulding the city's working-class identity and its relationship with industrial modernity, unusual in such a wild setting. Today Tortolì looks ahead without forgetting the past: the Little Green Train departs from here and climbs the canyons of the interior towards Mandas, the Lido di Orrì has been crowned Italy's most beautiful beach on multiple occasions, and the Rocce Rosse Blues Festival brings international jazz and blues stars to the stage every summer, turning the docks of Arbatax into an open-air stage on the Mediterranean.