Travel guide

(included by the European Community into the SCI – Sites of Community
Interest). The town was founded between the VII and VI century B.C.E. by the
Phoenicians. Since then, it has represented the gateway to Sardinia, and all
peoples who reached the Island established here their headquarters: Punics,
Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Pisans, Aragonese, and Piedmontese. The traces
of history are evident in the urban structure: the Phoenician-Punic necropolis
of the Tuvixeddu hill, the Roman amphitheatre carved into limestone rock, the
cathedral of Pisan origins, the Royal Palace which, for a short time, was
headquarters to the Sabaudian court. It was the Pisans who, by fortifying the
hill of Castello in the XIII century and favouring the formation of its branches
(Stampace, Marina, and Villanova), impressed upon the town the contour
that would remain unchanged until the beginning of the last century. The
quarter of Castello is the symbol of Cagliari. The town’s gonfalon features the
two Pisan towers of the Elephant and of Saint Pancras built in the XIV century
to counteract the siege by the Aragonese. The Sardinian name of the town is
Casteddu, which testifies to how the town in the past was identified in the
quarter of Castello. The historical quarters of Cagliari are rich in churches,
noble palaces, and archaeological remnants. The following are worth visiting:
the cathedral of Santa Maria and the Bastion of Saint Remy in Castello, the
On the left:
The Bastion of Saint
Remy
On the right:
The cathedral of
N. S. di Bonaria,
Cagliari
underground archaeological complex of Santa Eulalia in the Marina, the
Baroque church of San Michele in Stampace, and the Gothic-Catalan church
of San Giacomo in Villanova. The fair of Sant’Efisio is held in Cagliari every
year on the first day of May. This is the most celebrated and popular on the
Island because of the sumptuous procession of hundreds of people wearing
the traditional dress.
21