Monuments and natural beauties

• Bastione di Saint Remy: this beautiful belvedere was built in 1800 to link the highest part of the town to the districts of Villanova and Marina. The name comes from the homonymous baron that was sent to Sardinia by King Vittorio Emanuele II as his viceroy, in 1720. A wide staircase links the belvedere to the terrace, called Terrazza Umberto I, which dominates the town and the surrounding areas, from Capoterra Mountains to Sette Fratelli Mountains.
• Castello: this castle is the most ancient part of the town and it is surrounded by several towers of Pisan origin. There is also a Spanish influence, especially in the flower decorations and in the ceramics, similar to the Spanish ‘azulejos’. Between the castle and the port there are several XVIII – XIX century districts, influenced by Ligurian and Piedmont style.
• Cattedrale: the cathedral was built in XIII century. Inside there are two Romanic pulpits of XII century coming from the cathedral of Pisa. In the second right chapel, there is a Black Madonna made of wood, of XIV century. In the right transept there is a Gothic chapel, built during Aragon age. It contains a triptych called “of Clemente VII”. In the presbytery there is rich furniture of 1600. From there it is possible to reach the sanctuary that is divided in three chapels. On the walls there are the urns containing the probable relics of Christian martyrs. The central chapel is in classical style with its barrel vault richly decorated. The side chapels are in late-Gothic style and are decorated with stuccoes, in Spanish style. In the left transept there is a small chapel. At the bottom there is the mausoleum of Martin II of Aragon, built in 1676. Near the right transept there are rooms of Aragon age, such as the sacristy and the museum containing items of XV-XIX century and precious sacred vestments.
• Museo d’Arte Siamese “S. Cardu”: this museum contains around 1300 items, such as arms, pots, and different objects. There are a lot of rare Siamese objects. These objects render this collection one of the richest of this kind in Italy.
• Museo Archeologico Nazionale: the most important collection is the one made of small bronze statues that represent the leaders of the tribes, the warriors, the mothers, animals of Nuragic period. There are also many findings coming from the necropolises of the area: they show the influence in the region by different populations, Phoenicians and Romans for example. It is the most important collection of the region about the story of Sardinia: it is very important to learn everything about the past of this wonderful region. There is an interesting Punic cippus on which for the first time there is the name of the isle.
• Museo del Duomo: this museum contains an important altar-piece made of a double triptych, it is called Retablo dei Beneficiati and it is in Catalan style. This work was made around 1527 in the workshop by Pietro Cavaro; there is also the triptych of Clemente VII, it is made of three panels: the central one portrays Our Lady of Sorrows with the Christ, the left one shows Our Lady with the Holy Child and Saint Anne and the right one shows Saint Marguerite and the dragon. The painting is exhibited every year together with the sacred spine on the Feast of the Assumption.
• Museo di Fisica: this museum dedicated to physics contains around 400 tools, among them the electric dynamo by Antonio Pacinotti (professor of physics at the University of Cagliari between 1873 and 1881), one of the three examples in the world, built between 1878 and 1880 in the university.
• Pinacoteca Nazionale: this picture gallery contains paintings, coats of arms, furniture from 1400 to 1700. There are also the remains of the “Portiuncola” that was in the church (destroyed by fire) dedicated to Saint Francis, in Stampace, the district in which in 1500 a rich painting school developed; among the best painters there were Pietro and Michele Cavaro; in the gallery there are paintings made between XV and XVIII.
• Museo Pedagogico: this museum contains didactic material created by some of the best pedagogists of modern and contemporary age. The most ancient material is part of the items created by Federico Frobel for his nursery schools. It includes the things that, according to the creator, help children to understand the various different forms of reality: the cube, the ball, and the cylinders. There are also the so important pieces by Maria Montessori: the boxes with the noises, the silk threads, etc. Then there are the objects used by Agazzi sisters and by Piaget to promote the development of the personality and of the skills of children
• Orto Botanico: in this garden there around 600 trees, with many different types: Ficus, Phytolacca, Dracena, Casuarina, Eucalyptus, Dasylirion, etc. In 1996 a new section was opened: it contains the plants used in medicine, there are 150 species. Then there is a plant that is probably the unique in Italy and even in Europe: Argania Sideroxylon Roem, coming from Morocco.
• Raccolta Cere Anatomiche “C. Susini”: this museum contains 23 anatomic models made of polychrome wax between 1803 and 1805. They were created using mouldings made of chalk of anatomic parts reproducing the different parts of the male and female body.
• Anfiteatro Romano: this Roman amphitheatre was built at the end of II century a.C. It is in a small natural valley at the feet of a hill, Buon Cammino. The builders adapted the shape of the theatre to the territory, to the presence of the rocks. The amphitheatre was divided in different levels; each level was dedicated to a social class. People had to use also different entrances according to the social class and the level. At the level of the arena there is a long corridor, along this corridor there were the spaces containing the animals. The amphitheatre contains also interesting archaeological elements, such as the Roman pits and cisterns. The most interesting cistern is like a bottle, having at its mouth a canal used to let the water flow.
• Area archeologica annessa alla Chiesa di S. Eulalia: this monumental archaeological site presents elements of many different ages. The area is really big, on one side there is a colonnade closed by stones put in a later period. The floor is made of marble and calcareous material.
• Cappella dell’Istituto di S. Vincenzo: this chapel contains six oil paintings and several paintings made around 1940 by Aurelio Galleppini, called Galep. Some years later he will become the famous author of Tex Willer, the most popular protagonist of Italian comics. After the war, Galleppini lived in Cagliari and earned his living creating souvenirs for American soldiers (for example he painted local landscapes on tiles taken from bombed houses). He painted posters for the movies, cards, etc. In this way he became very known as a really good painter. The paintings of the chapel represent a very important moment of the story of the order of Saint Vincent. Visitors are often curious to see the “works of art” by Galep, but the paintings in the chapel are really interesting because they were created in a very difficult moment of local history: the difficult years after the Second World War, when the town had been partially destroyed by bombs and the artistic and cultural world wanted to start a new life.
• Chiesa Aragonese: this church is at the feet of Monte Urpino, and it was ordered by Baron Giovanni Sanjust di Teulada between the end of 1600 and the beginning of 1700, on the ruins of an ancient small Byzantine church. The style is very simple.
• Cimitero Monumentale di Bonaria: this graveyard was designed by Captain Luigi Damiano. The plant is regular and it is divided in four parts. It was inaugurated in 1829 and since then it has been an open-air museum containing sculptures by local and Italian artists who worked in Cagliari (Fadda, Sartorio, Sarrocchi, Galavoni) from the second half of 1800 to the first decades of 1900. In this extraordinary museum there are many different styles: neoclassicism, realism, symbolism and liberty.
• Complesso di S. Lucifero: these three funerary buildings of late-Roman age were built in III and IV century a.C. and then they were used as Christian burial places.
• Cripta di S. Restituta: this cave is a hypogeous, partly natural and partly created in the rock. It was used in late-Punic and Roman age and maybe also in early-Christian period. The shape is irregular and along the main space there are many different rooms having different shape and size. They were used as cisterns or altars. People worshipped S. Restituta in this place. The saint had African origins and her relics arrived in Sardinia around V century: they were collected in a terracotta pot.
• Cripta e Chiostro di S. Domenico: the crypt and the cloister were founded in 1254. In 1580 there was the settlement of the chapel dedicated to the Rosary. Here Gothic and Renaissance styles mix. The chapel contains the flags used by fighters from Sardinia who took part to the battle of Lepanto (1571).
• Fortino di S. Ignazio: this small fortress is at around 94 m above the sea level. It was designed by military engineer, Franco Lorenzo.
• Fullonica: in 1956 there was the discovery of a ‘fullonica’, that is a laboratory used to wash and dye clothes. The clothes were put in basins containing colouring or bleaching agents.
• Grotta della Vipera: this noble sepulchre was dedicated by Roman Lucio Cassio Filippo, between the end of I century and II century a.C., to his wife, Atilia Pomptilla. According to a legend, he was ill and his wife prayed the gods to recover him and to take her life, not his. So she died. The name “vipera” (viper) comes from the decorations of the temple: two snakes that represent eternal life and fidelity. The cave is very important because of the inscriptions on the walls: there are twelve poems, some in Greek, others in Latin; they celebrate Pomptilla and the love she felt for her husband.
• Monumento ai Caduti: this monument is dedicated to the fallen of Sardinia, who died in the battles for the independence and unity of Italy. The monument was carried out by sculptor from Piedmont, Giuseppe Sartorio, and it was inaugurated on 16^th August 1886. It was maybe ordered by some soldiers from Sardinia to commemorate those who died for their country.
• Monumento all’Immacolata Concezione: this monument was made by Luigi Guglielmi in 1882 on a high base designed by engineer Giovanni Onnis. It was inspired by an idea by Carlo Boyl in 1856 in the particular religious atmosphere that followed the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
• Necropoli di Bonaria: this necropolis contains the tomb of Munatius Ireneus, of IV century a. C.
• Necropoli di Tuvixeddu: this necropolis has a Phoenician – Punic origin. It is the most ancient in the region. The tombs are carved in the rock. There is a really beautiful tomb, the tomb of a warrior, “Tomba del Combattente” (called also “del Sid”, the god who frees man from any evils). This tomb portrays a warrior throwing his spear. Another interesting tomb is the one called “Tomba dell’Urèo”, portraying the sacred cobra of Egyptian religion. It is decorated with small palms and masks that keep the demons away.
• Oratorio del SS. Crocifisso: this oratory has a beautiful façade. It was built between 1665 and 1667. The shape is rectangular, there is a barrel-vault, and the presbytery is closed by wood balustrade. On the side wall there are three niches. On the entrances there are the choir stalls. In the church there are beautiful wood statues portraying the seven mysteries of Christ, ordered to sculptor Giuseppe Antonio Lonis in 1758. They are brought on procession during the ceremonies of Holy Week.
• Orto dei Cappuccini: in this garden there are the ancient stone quarries, maybe of II century a.C., used for the building of the near Roman amphitheatre. They were used as cisterns later. Then they were used as prisons, as the rings for the chains show. On a wall there is an important Early-Christian graffito, made at the beginning of IV century a.C. It represents the “ship of church”: the sail of the ship is a cross; on the ship there are the twelve apostles, “fishers of men”, portrayed while fishing. Maybe the author is an unknown Christian martyr, imprisoned before being killed in the amphitheatre.
• Palazzo Arcivescovile: this palace was the residence of Carlo Felice. On a side wall there are funerary inscriptions of Early-Christian period. There are also interesting works of art. Inside it is possible to see the structure of the previous cathedral. The hall is very wide and contains archaeological findings.
• Palazzo Civico: this palace is in Gothic – Aragon style, frequently used in Sardinia between XIV and XV century. However the decorations are mainly made of flowers, according to Liberty style. In the four corners of the middle towers there are the sculptures portraying the legendary moors of Sardinia flag. In two side niches there are the statues of Vittorio Amedeo II, the first king of Sardinia and Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy. There are also three statues by Andrea Valli, celebrating the Roman, Spanish and Pisan dominations. In the upper corners of the other facades there are three bronze statues portraying agriculture, industry and commerce.
• Palazzo dell’Università: this palace is one of the most important buildings built by Savoy government, led by Carlo Emanuele III. He reformed also the universities of the region, giving them more importance.
• Palazzo Viceregio: the façade shows some pilasters that delimit the windows. The palace contains the portraits of the viceroys.
• Pozzo di S. Pancrazio: this pit was made in 1235 to bring water to the fortress. Today the pit can’t be seen from the street because its mouth was lowered under the level of the street. So a gallery was created in the rock to allow people to enter the pit.
• Chiesa di S. Agostino: this church was built around 1577, it is one of the rare examples of Renaissance architecture in Sardinia. The mortal remains of Saint Augustine were kept in the crypt from 504 to 722.
• Torre della Quarta Regia: this tower was built when fishers were asked to give a quarter of what they fished inside the lagoons of Cagliari or Santa Gilla. This was a “fee” that was asked until 1956, when a regional law suppressed it. The tower is made of two rooms; the main one is the watch tower, 8 m tall.
• Torre dell’Aquila: this tower had a big portal on which an eagle was carved.
• Torre dell’Elefante: the tower is 30 m tall. It was built by people from Pisa in 1307 on a project by architect Giovanni Capula. The tower has four levels. On the southern façade there is a sculpture portraying an elephant.
• Torre di Calamosca: this tower was built in 1638 as the marble plaque on the outside wall states. This tower had a smart mechanism that allowed the communication with the castle.
• Spiaggia di Calamosca: this beach has thick sand mixed with fine and coarse gravel. It is limited on the West by a rock and a hill, Colle S. Elia.
• Torre di S. Pancrazio: this tower was designed by architect Giovanni Capula in 1305, to protect the northern entrance of the castle. It was built in the highest part of the hill, at more than 130 m above the sea level. From there it was possible to control the territory around the town. Together with its twin, Torre dell’Elefante, it is one of the few Middle Ages buildings in Cagliari that are preserved almost intact.
• Poetto: the very long seaside from Cagliari to Quartu S. Elena, dominated by the rock of Sella del Diavolo, is characterized by a very fine and light sand. According to a legend, Lucifer fell with his saddle in the sea, leaving his footprint on a rock, called Sella del Diavolo (devil’s saddle). Near this area there is the watertight of Molentargius, from Poetto beach it is possible to sea the flight of pink flamingos that have been there since 1993, in a protected oasis, the only one in Italy. Reeds separate this oasis from the street.
• Villa di Tigellio: this villa was attributed to the homonymous singer, who lived during Augustan age. He was very rich and extravagant. It is part of an elegant district of the Roman Karalis, built at the end of I century b.C. Today there are the remains of three houses and an alley separates them from an area in which there were the thermal baths, whose remains are still there. There were also small rooms, used during the nights.
• Basilica di S. Saturnino o SS. Cosma e Damiano: this basilica is the most ancient church of Sardinia. It was founded in V century and was restored during Romanic age.
• Santuario di Bonaria: this sanctuary is the only part left of the castle ordered by Alphonse of Aragon in 1325, during the siege of the castle of Cagliari, governed by Pisans. The wood statue of Our Lady arrived in a miraculous way on the beach of Bonaria, in 1370, and gave a new fame to the sanctuary. As votive objects, in the museum there are Egyptian mummies.
• Chiesa di S. Michele: this church can be considered on of the best examples of Baroque architecture in Cagliari. Inside there are wonderful polychrome marble altars and frescoes by Giacomo Altomonte and Domenico Colombino in XVIII century.
• Chiesa della Purissima: this church is a Gothic - Aragon church with only a nave and a deep presbytery. Inside there is a wood crucifix of XVI century, showing Spanish influences.
• Chiesa di S. Croce: this church contains Spanish paintings of XVII century.
• Stagno di Molentargius: this watertight is very big (500 hectares) and contains many species of water birds. It is a natural oasis, one of the most important of the Mediterranean area, chosen by pink flamingos (very rare, in Europe they live only in Spain and France) as the ideal place to prepare their nests. In 1999 the watertight was proclaimed a regional park. It is divided in two parts: one of salt water and one of fresh water (they are respectively Bellarosa maggiore and Bellarosa minore). The name Molentargius is linked to the production of salt.

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Written by Stefania Maffeo
Translation by Linda Liguori