Santa Maria Navarrese offers a landscape characterised by the Mediterranean scrub typical of the area, reflected in the clear waters of its own small bay. The village, built by the population of Baunei after 1950, has an ancient, yet mysterious name, linked to the distant history of the mediaeval period – and to legends. The symbol of Santa Maria Navarrese is the small mediaeval church in the centre of its town square, surrounded by majestic thousand-year old olive groves.
This church, according to the legend, was built shortly after the year 1000, by the Princess of Navarre, from the Spanish region of the same name, in honour of the Virgin who survived the shipwreck of her own ship. Further testament to the ancient origins of Santa Maria Navarrese is the Spanish tower, an old viewing post to spot the Saracen invasions of the 17th century.
