The region, inhabited from early Neolithic times and more intensely in the Nuragic period, had as capital in the Punic-Roman age the city of Cornus, razed to the ground by the Consul T. Manlius Torquatus in the year 537 of Rome, after the defeat of the Sardinian-Punic forces at Amsicora. The entire region is filled with testimony to these events: domus de janas, nuraghi and buried cities, are fascinating sites for lovers of archeology. In the early Middle Ages the department of Montiferru belonged to the judgeship of Torres and the castle of the same name, whose remains can still be seen today, marked the border with that of Arborea. With the fall of the judges, Montiferru was incorporated by the crown of Aragon and granted as feud to Guglielmo di Montañas, who sold it to the Zatrillas family in 1421 for 6 thousand gold florins. In 1670 the feud was confiscated from Donna Francesca Zatrillas, accused of complicity in murder and lèse-majesté, and sold to Don Francesco Brunengo; but in 1709 a pardon was granted by Carlo III and the feud was returned to Don Gabriele Aymerich - Zatrillas. When Sardinia passed under the reign of the House of Savoy in 1720, Montiferru remained in the hands of its feudal lords until 1848 when the Island received the advantages of the Constitution granted by Carlo Alberto. The main economic activity of the region was agriculture and stock-breeding (the Anglo-Arabian-Sardinian horses of Santu Lussurgiu are famous), with a wealth of fine craftsmanship whose best examples are found at Cùglieri and Santu Lussurgiu, centers which are also - among the inhabited localities - the most interesting places to visit.