Traditional Dress of Birori

Historical background and roots of tradition

Birori, known in Sardinian as Bìroro or Bìrore, is a village of the Marghine, in the province of Nuoro, at 450 metres above sea level. The place name, of likely pre-Roman or nuragic origin, is documented from 1341 as Virore: hypotheses linking it to Phoenician terms such as Bar (well) or Birah (fortress) are considered unfounded by scholars. The territory is among the richest in prehistoric remains in the Marghine, with over fifty monuments including nuraghi, giants’ tombs — among them Palatu, Sa Pedra ’e S’Altare and Lassia — domus de janas, dolmens and menhirs, making Birori one of the villages with the highest density of nuragic sites in the area. In the Middle Ages the town belonged to the Giudicato di Torres and became an autonomous municipality in 1839. The historic centre features the churches of Sant’Andrea and Santo Stefano, and the village is also served by the ARST railway on the Macomer-Nuoro line.

Women’s dress

The festive dress features at the head the light beige silk headscarf, muccaloru, folded into a triangle with the ends crossed under the chin and fastened inside at ear level; the visible corner at the back is finished with cutwork embroidery. The shirt, camisa, is white cotton with embroidery on the chest.

The bodice, imbustu, is beige brocade with polychrome floral motifs, bordered with black velvet and enriched with embroidery finished in silver bullion; the lower section opens into a series of stiff flaps forming the basquine. It is laced under the bust with a crossed ribbon and ends at the front with two stiff points. The skirt, unnedda, is black corded wool, fully pleated except for the front panel covered by the apron, farda, in brown, purple and green stripes of figured cotton.

Men’s dress

The everyday attire includes the tubular black cloth cap berritta, about one metre long with rounded edges, worn folded over itself and allowed to fall forward. The shirt, entone, is white cotton of very simple make.

The jacket, zippone, is black velvet with black cotton braid trim, long sleeves and a double-breasted fastening. Over the jacket is worn the waistcoat, corpette, in black fustian with two side pockets. The trousers, pantalones, are black fustian, tubular in shape with a turned-up waistband. The footwear, buttinos cun sas bullittas, are black leather boots with hobnailed soles.