casa vacanze Santa Maria Navarrese - Tancau

Santa Maria Navarrese and Tancau are two small villages in the central east coast of Sardinia.

They are so close to one each other, that they form only one long beach in the Tyrrhenian side of Sardinia in the new province of Ogliastra only a few kilometres far away from the port and the airport of Tortolì-Arbatax.

SMN. and T. belong to the jurisdictions of two other villages, Baunei and Lotzorai.
However, they are so far away from them and so close to one each other, that they appear as only one village. For this reason, we will call this area with only one name: Santa Maria.

During normal seasons around 2000 people live there but this number can even triple in Summer, thanks to beautiful beaches and the limpid sea.

A nice white small church is the hearth of Santa Maria, that possibly dates back to XI century. Behind this there is a intersting and fascinating mixture of history and legend.
Around the year 1000 the Princess of Navarra was sent in exile by her father and after a big storm she could find a shelter on the small Sardinian beach.
To thank the Madonna, she ordered to build the small church dedicated to the Assumpted Virgin.
The main square in Santa Maria is called Piazza Principessa di Navarra (Princess of Navarra's Square).

In memory of that vow, in Santa Maria a traditional feast takes place every year on August 15th to celebrate the Assumpted Holy Virgin Maria.
Over the last years it is a tradition for the 50-yeard-old people of the village to organize this feast.