Buzz has been in short supply in southern Sardinia for some time now — some would say ever since the decline of the region’s Bronze Age Nuragic civilization. Yet on Italy’s second largest island, where sheep vastly outnumber people, there’s unmistakable new energy in Cagliari, its small Mediterranean capital, and the surrounding countryside. “We used to think of ourselves as rustic, as isolated in this island backwater,” a local lay historian, Venturino Vargiu, told me, as we watched the city’s annual folk costume extravaganza of Sant’Efisio. “But Sardinians are starting to understand that our culture has real value for us and for outsiders.”In Cagliari, there’s a surge in pride, along with a wave of new development, mostly aimed at increasing the already growing numbers of tourists. A light-rail line will connect the Marina with Cagliari’s hinterlands, and a new port, projected for 2026, is being constructed to move cruise ships farther away, allowing the yacht set to dock (and spend money) in Cagliari’s center.

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Persons: Buzz, Venturino Vargiu, ”, Stefano Boeri Locations: Sardinia, Cagliari, ”, there’s, Marina, Cagliari’s