Province of Oristano trip planner

Oristano is an Italian city and comune, and capital of the Province of Oristano in the central-western part of the island of Sardinia. It is located on the northern part of the Campidano plain. It was established as the provincial capital on 16 July 1974., the city had 32,165 inhabitants.The economy of Oristano is based mainly on services, agriculture, tourism and small industries.HistoryOristano was previously known by the Byzantines as Aristanis, and founded close to the ancient Phoenician settlement of Othoca . It acquired importance in 1070, when, as a result of the frequent Saracen attacks, Archbishop Torcotorio made it the seat of the bishopric, which was previously in the nearby coastal town of Tharros. It also became the capital of the giudicato of Arborea. Consequently, fortifications were designed, but the building thereof went on until judge Mariano II rose to power.In medieval times Oristano vied for power over the whole island of Sardinia, and therefore waged wars against the other Sardinian kingdoms which culminated in the attempt to conquer the whole island during the reign of Mariano IV and that of his son Hugh III and his daughter Eleanor . The giudicato of Arborea held out to be the last Sardinian kingdom to cease to exist in 1420, about 10 years after the battle of Sanluri. It was transformed in Marchesato by the Aragonese and conquered, following a revolt by the last marquess Leonardo Alagon, by the Catalan troops of the Kingdom of Aragon, in 1478 after the battle of Macomer.