Sa Jara Manna - Giara di Gesturi

Sa Jara Manna, the great Giara, is a basalt plateau in the Marmilla, where seasonal pools shelter rare crustaceans and wild ponies graze among cork oaks, orchids and endemic flora. Its distinctive landscapes also preserve nuraghi and a Roman road.

Why it matters

The Giara di Gesturi is the largest of the basalt plateaus, or giare, of south-central Sardinia. Its paulis, seasonal rain pools, support crustaceans such as Lepidurus apus lubbocki and Triops cancriformis. The plateau’s wild ponies and endemic plants contribute to its ecological importance; it has been protected as a Site of Community Importance since 1995 and as a regional natural park since 1989.

What to notice

The plateau is marked by the extinct craters of Zepparedda, which rises to 609 metres, and Zeppara Manna. The sa Roja fault crosses the surface with a step of about thirty metres. Cork and holm oaks, strawberry trees and myrtle grow among more than twenty-five species of wild orchid; the endemic Morisia monanthos flowers in spring. Nuraghi, including the protonuraghe Bruncu Madugui, and a paved Roman road attest to human activity on the plateau.

Context and history

The plateau’s basalt cap formed during the Pliocene above Miocene marls, creating the flat summit that rises above the surrounding Marmilla and Sarcidano. The Giara is shared among the communes of Gesturi, Genoni, Tuili and Setzu.