Prince Robert d'Orléans

Getting around

Travel between Sardinian towns by road

A diligence service connected Sassari and Cagliari in 30 hours, while horse-drawn carriages could also be hired for travel between towns at a cost of 5 francs per day per horse.

At the table

Daily Meals Based on Soup and Bread

Ordinary families typically relied on a single daily meal, often a soup (minestra) made of vegetables, potatoes, lard, or salted pork, frequently served with bread. For many, meat was an exceptional treat reserved for Sundays, holidays, or celebrations like weddings.

What people wore

Traditional rustic mastruca vests for men

Ordinary male peasants in Sardinia often wore the mastruca, a rustic vest made from four sheep or goat skins, a traditional garment that dates back to Roman times.

Music

Songs at wool-carding gatherings

During social wool-carding gatherings, young men offered flowers to women accompanied by sung verses, with the women required to respond in kind.

Daily life

Creative food preservation and tool recycling

Families preserved eggs for months by storing them in a mixture of four parts water and one part lime, leaving the storage pots permanently marked with white residue. Tools were also creatively repurposed, such as graters fashioned from old, unusable farm hoes pierced with a hot iron.