River of the Mills

The River of the Mills, or riu de Santu Pedru in Sardinian (although maps of the territory dating back to the first part of the 1900s indicated it as riu de Sa Pigarva), is a torrential waterway that begins in the locality of Siscia, in the Town of Florinas. It continues for the most part through the Town of Cargeghe, joining another tributary stream called Riu Cantareddu in the lower part of town, which together flow into the river Màscari on the Campomela plain.
Its flow rate varies during the different seasons, reaching a maximum in the rainy season and a minimum in the summer but, nevertheless, it is almost never dry because it is well supplied by a few springs.
Its torrential nature has made it exploitable as a motor power source since ancient times for several mills located along its banks, used to grind wheat: in total there are ten mills of which there is historical evidence since the 14th century, probably installed by Camaldolese monks present on the territory since the 12th century – in the church of Saint Mary of Contra.
This is all historical and cultural evidence of old lost trades that sustained the self-sufficiency economy of the local community of the past.
Segments of the stream are characterised by little waterfalls and ponds along the waterway that make it a highly evocative and natural site, given the conformation of the territory, rich in Mediterranean scrub and oak and Holm oak woods, especially in the locality of S’Èlighe Entosu where there is a Neolithic necropolis comprising a few domus de janas (tn* Neolithic tombs carved into rock called “houses of the fairies”).