Emerald sea, squares full of social life, luxury shopping: this is the most exclusive location in the north-east of Sardinia
Province: Province of Sassari
Must: Shopping, Nightlife, Sea, Luxury
Location: Porto Cervo (Tyrrhenian Sea)
London 1958
A banker who had just been in Sardinia was looking for partners to buy a certain piece of coast that he had found semi-wild, mountainous and washed by a crystalline sea. In this wonderland, just an hour’s flight from Italy and France, a small holiday retreat for private use could have been created for a “small” sum ($ 25,000) each. Thus was born a small group of investors composed of the Prince of the Ismaili community His Highness Aga Khan, Giuseppe Mentasti, Patrick Guinness, Renè Podbielski and others, who signed, on September 29, 1961, a declaration of intent that would lead to the constitution, on March 14, 1962, of the Costa Smeralda Consortium.
The Costa Smeralda quickly became one of the most renowned and exclusive tourist resorts in the world, with the improvement of connections with Olbia and the expansion of the Venafiorita airport. At the end of the sixties the Costa Smeralda already consisted of the village of Porto Cervo, the five hotels (including the Luci Di La Muntagna) in perfect working order, the Stella Maris church, a large golf course under construction and the first villas most beautiful beaches, in places with fantastic names such as Liscia di Vacca, Capriccioli, Grande Pevero, Pantogia.
Porto Cervo
Being a fairly recent town, in Porto Cervo there are no historical testimonies, but it is still worth spending a day there for a walk among the shops and boutiques, and to see some of the main things. inlet of the Gulf of Arzachena, with a shape reminiscent of that of a deer. In the 1960s, at the behest of Prince Aga Khan, the first artificial port was built in the southern area, now called the Old Port. It is still functional today and houses boats, sailing ships and yachts but has been “ousted” in size by the new marina built in the 1980s in the east. This is a very well equipped and modern port, with a capacity of 700 berths occupied mostly by luxury yachts and sailing boats. A walk on the docks is a must to admire some of the most beautiful and luxurious boats in the world which, not surprisingly, are moored in the crystal clear waters of Porto Cervo Marina. As one of the best equipped and protected ports in the Mediterranean, Porto Cervo is also renowned for its shipyard, open all year round and offering a highly efficient environment, an ideal solution for repairs and maintenance on sailboats and yachts up to 45 meters.
