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MAN AND THE TERRITORY
In Ogliastra, the environment has had an extremely strong influence on the division, use and distribution of land, roads, settlements and ways of life.
The inhabitants of Ogliastra have always cared a lot for environment, creating a strong yet harmonious relationship with the land.
They have managed to exploit the natural resources of the area without destroying its beauty, in towns, villages and rural settlements.
Houses 
Despite the inevitable peculiarities of every town and village, there are several characteristics which are common to houses in the mountains, and similarities which are shared by dwellings in coastal and countryside areas.
In the inland villages and settlements at higher altitudes, houses tend to be built on one or two floors and an attic, each floor having a specific use, domestic or professional.
In the hills, the most common type of house has two main rooms, connected by an outside stairway.
In the plains, a typical house is similar to the one described above, but with an internal staircase and a open gallery which overlooks a courtyard, as in the Campidano region of Sardinia.
The most common building materials,
sometimes found in the better preserved town houses, were stone, mud mortar (often mixed with straw) used as a sticking agent, interwoven canes and clay roof tiles.
Towns and villages,
smaller and more compact in the mountainous areas, and more far-reaching in the plains, often expand into the countryside including fruit and vegetable plots.
These areas are often dotted with small, rustic villas (often used nowadays as “Argriturismos”) and even tiny churches.
Sacred places can be found also in the mountains, where the land is dotted with “pinnetas” (photo: P.Rinaldi).
These are small constructions in grey-white stone, built by shepherds, using dry-stone technique, and roofed with thick juniper branches and trunks or (more rarely) with leafy juniper branches.