Alà dei Sardi (Alà in Sardinian) is a Municipality of about 2,000 inhabitants in Montacuto, an historical sub-region of Logudoro. It extends upon the homonym plateau 700 mts a.s.l. and it can be reached by car from Olbia in about half an hour.

The village’s name has got an obscure meaning: people think it derives from the name Balare with the loss of the initial “B” (a typical characteristic of Alà’s dialect is the drop of the initial “B”, very different from the main Logudorese way of speaking), that is city of Balari, ancient population living in this land, never subjugated by Romans. The Municipal territory keeps intact very important archaeological sites from the Nuragic Age (Su Pedrighinosu, Balare, Su Posidu, Malagarrucca, Sos Nurattolos, Kidade, Dolifichima, Alteri, Binioni, Boddhò, Antoniarrù, Sas Tumbas, Intr'e Serra, Nuri), witnessing its ancient origin.

The modern village started developing around the XVII century AD, after the building of the church of Santa Maria (1619), a real architectural gem concealing a troubled obscure story: the church had become the meeting-point for the shepherds’ families living widespread in the plateau of Alà.

In the village, whose growth during the last few decades has been really rapid, some old pits are well kept, such as that of Mesu Idda (in the village centre) and that of S’Oltu Mannu (the great garden). Spring-water, limpid and transparent, is cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter.

Alà’s territory, overlooked by cork-oaks and ilex-groves and by majestic granite shapes, is one of the wildest and most charming areas in the Province; it is inhabited by a rich fauna including the wildcat, the boar, the stone marten, the weasel, the marten and the eagle.

The village’s got an ages-long agro-pastoral tradition: this activity had been feeding the community for centuries. Selected bovine meat and honey production were especially renowned. Nowadays, the village’s economy is based above all on its valuable granite mining and processing and on its rare cork production.

In March the festival “Alasport” takes place in Alà, an international cross-country competition: considering the quality of the athletes taking part to the race (Olympic champions, world champions, world record-men), this competition is to be regarded as the most important in Europe.