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| Basilica di San Saturnino, Casteddu/Cagliari |
All of them are enjoying a wonderful day in this amazing city where you can live the essence of the Mediterranean culture and the result of a land that has been an interesting home for several cultures. The friends are discovering every important place of the city while they are waiting the arrival of the last member of the group, Tonyi Tamaki, who arrives today to the island.
Before visiting the city, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Elementary Language Practice manual (Grammar 4).
More information: Present Continuous Affirmative
Casteddu in Sardinian, Cagliari in Italian, and Càller in Catalan, is an Sardinian municipality and the capital of Sardinia. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. Cagliari is the largest city on the island of Sardinia.
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| Joseph visits the Roman Amphitheatre, Casteddu |
Historical sites include the prehistoric Domus de Janas, very damaged by cave activity, a large Carthaginian era necropolis, a Roman era amphitheatre, a Byzantine basilica, three Pisan-era towers and a strong system of fortification that made the town the core of Spanish Habsburg imperial power in the western Mediterranean Sea. Its natural resources have always been its sheltered harbour, the often powerfully fortified hill of Castel di Castro, the modern Casteddu, the salt from its lagoons, and, from the hinterland, wheat from the Campidano plain and silver and other ores from the Iglesiente mines.
More information: Dooid
Cagliari was the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1324 to 1848, when Turin became the formal capital of the kingdom, which in 1861 became the Kingdom of Italy. Today the city is a regional cultural, educational, political and artistic centre, known for its diverse Art Nouveau architecture and several monuments. It is also Sardinia's economic and industrial hub, having one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean Sea, an international airport, and the 106th highest income level in Italy, comparable to that of several northern Italian cities.
It is also the seat of the University of Cagliari, founded in 1607, and of the Primate Roman Catholic archdiocese of Sardinia, since the 5th century AD.
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| Claire visits the Bastione San Remy, Casteddu |
There are high mountains nearby, to which people could evacuate if the settlement had to be given up and relics of prehistoric inhabitants in the hill of Monte Claro and in Cape Sant'Elia.
Krly was established around the 8th/7th century BC as one of a string of Phoenician colonies in Sardinia, including Tharros. Its founding is linked to its position along communication routes with Africa as well as to its excellent port. The Phoenician settlement was located in the Stagno di Santa Gilla, west of the present centre of Cagliari. This was also the site of the Roman Portus Scipio, and when Arab pirates raided the area in the 8th century it became the refuge for people fleeing from the city. Other Phoenician settlements have been found at Cape Sant'Elia.
More Information: Sardi
In the late 6th century BC Carthage took control of part of Sardinia, and Cagliari grew substantially under their domination, as testified by the large Tuvixeddu necropolis and other remains. Cagliari was a fortified settlement in what is now the modern Marina quarter, with an annexed holy area in the modern Stampace.
Sardinia and Cagliari came under Roman rule in 238 BC, shortly after the First Punic War, when the Romans defeated the Carthaginians. No mention of it is found on the occasion of the Roman conquest of the island, but during the Second Punic War it was the headquarters of the praetor, Titus Manlius Torquatus, from whence he conducted his operations against Hampsicora and the Carthaginians. At other times it was also the Romans' chief naval station on the island, and the residence of the praetor.
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| Tina walks across the streets of Casteddu |
However, there is some evidence that during this period of independence from external rule, the city was deserted because it was too exposed to attacks by Moorish pirates coming from north Africa and Spain. Apparently many people left Caralis and founded a new town named Santa Igia in an area close to the Santa Gilla swamp to the west of Cagliari, but relatively distant from the sea.
During the 11th century, the Republic of Pisa began to extend its political influence over the Judgedom of Cagliari. Pisa and the maritime republic of Genoa had a keen interest in Sardinia because it was a perfect strategic base for controlling the commercial routes between Italy and North Africa.
More information: Cagliari Turismo
In the second decade of the 14th century the Crown of Aragon conquered Sardinia after a series of battles against the Pisans. During the siege of Castel di Castro (1324-1326), the Aragonese, led by the infant Alfonso, built a stronghold on a more southern hill, that of Bonaria.
When the fortified city was finally conquered by the Catalan-Aragonese army, Castel di Castro, Castel de Càller or simply Càller in Catalan, became the administrative capital of the newborn Kingdom of Sardinia, one of the many kingdoms forming the Crown of Aragon, which later came under the rule of the Spanish Empire.
After the expulsion of the Tuscans, the Castello district was repopulated by the Catalan settlers of Bonaria while the indigenous population was, as in the past, concentrated in Stampace and Villanova.
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| The Grandma & Claire contemplate the Duomo |
During the Savoyard Era, until 1848, the institutions of the Sardinian kingdom remained unchanged, but with the Perfect Fusion in that year, all the possessions of the House of Savoy House, comprising Savoy, Nice, now part of France, Piedmont and from 1815 Liguria, were merged into a unitary state.
Although Sardinian by name, the kingdom had its parliament in Turin, where the Savoys resided, and its members were mainly aristocrats from Piedmont or the mainland.
In the late 18th century during the Napoleonic wars France tried to conquer Cagliari because of its strategic role in the Mediterranean sea, in the Expédition de Sardaigne.
More information: Lonely Planet
Starting in the 1870s, in the wake of the unification of Italy, the city experienced a century of rapid growth. Many buildings were erected by the end of the 19th century during the term of office of mayor Ottone Bacaredda.
Numerous buildings combined influences from Art Nouveau together with the traditional Sardinian taste for floral decoration; an example is the white marble City Hall near the port. Bacaredda is also known for his strong repression of one of the earliest worker strikes at the beginning of the 20th century.
During the Second World War Cagliari was heavily bombed by the Allies in February 1943. In order to escape from the danger of bombardments and difficult living conditions, many people were evacuated from the city into the countryside. In total the victims of the bombings were more than 2000 and about 80% of the buildings were damaged. The city received the Gold Medal of Military Valour.
After the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, the German Army took control of Cagliari and the island, but soon retreated peacefully in order to reinforce their positions in mainland Italy. The American Army then took control of Cagliari. Airports near the city, Elmas, Monserrato, Decimomannu (currently a NATO airbase) were used by Allied aircraft to fly to North Africa or mainland Italy and Sicily.
More information: The Independent
Sardinia is beautiful. The people were so friendly,
and the food was incredible!
Tia Mowry
