Tourism Cagliari - Italy

Cagliari: Tourism information Cagliari

Cagliari

Cagliari (Latin: Carales and Caralis; Catalan: Càller; Sardinian: Casteddu) is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means the castle. It has about 160,000 inhabitants, or about 350,000 including the suburbs (metropolitan area) (Elmas, Selargius, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu Sant'Elena).

Cagliari: Main sights

The old part of the city (called Castello, the castle) lies on top of a hill, with a wonderful view of the Gulf of Cagliari (also known as Angels Gulf). Most of its city walls are intact, and feature the two 13th century white lime-stone towers, St. Pancras tower and the Elephant tower. The local white lime-stone was also used to build the walls of the city and many builidings. D.H. Lawrence, in his lively memoir of a voyage to Sardinia, Sea and Sardinia, undertaken in January 1921, described the effect of the warm Mediterranean sun-light on the white lime-stone city and compared Cagliari to a "white Jerusalem".
The Cathedral was restored in the 1930s turning the former Baroque façade into a Medieval Pisan style façade, more akin to the original appearance of the church. The bell tower is original. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with a pulpit (1159-1162)[1] sculpted for the Cathedral of Pisa but later donated to Cagliari. The crypt houses the remains of martyrs found in the Basilica of San Saturno (see below). Near the Cathedral is the palace of the Provincial Government (which used to be the island's governor's palace before 1900). In Castello is also the Sardinian Archaeological Museum, the biggest and most important regarding the prehistoric Nuragic civilisation of Sardinia. Finally, Castello hosts many craftsmen workshops in its tightened and scenic lanes.
The Basilica of San Saturnino is one of the most important Palaeo-Christian monuments in Sardinia. Dedicated to the martyr killed under Diocletian's reign, it was built in the 5th century. Of the original building the central part remain and the dome, to which two armes (one with a nave and two aisles) was added. A Palaeo-Christian crypt is also under the church of San Lucifero (1660). This has a Baroque façade with ancient columns and sculpted parts, some of which found in the nearby necropolis.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria was built by the Aragonese in 1324-1329 during the siege to the Castle in which the Pisan had took shelter. It has a small Gothic portal in the façade and in the interior houses a wooden statue of the Madonna, which was thrown off by a Spanish ship and landed at the feet of the Bonaria hill. The cloister of the convent is home to the Marinery Museum. The other early districts of the town (Marina, Stampace, Villanova) retain much of their original appeal and still seem to function as distinct villages within the town.
Considerable other remains of the ancient city are still visible at Cagliari, the most striking of which are those of the Roman Amphitheatre, carved into a block of rock (the typical lime-stone on which Cagliari is built), and of an aqueduct; the latter a most important acquisition to the city, where fresh water is scarce. There exist also ancient cisterns of vast extent: the ruins of a small circular temple, and nutmerous sepulchres on a hill outside the modern town, which appears to have formed the necropolis of the ancient city. (Smyth's Sardinia, pp. 206, 215; Valery, Voyage en Sardaigne, c. 57.) The Amphitheatre still stages open-air operas and concerts during the summer.
The districts built in the 1930s spot some nice examples of Art Deco architecture and some controversial examples of Fascist neoclassicism, such as the Justice Court (Palazzo di Giustizia) in the Republic Square. The Justice Court is close to the biggest town park, Monte Urpinu, with its pine trees and artificial lakes. The park includes a vast area of a hill.
Cagliari has one of the longest beaches in an Italian town. The Poetto beach stretches for 13 km. and was famous for its white fine-grained sand. A recent controversial intervention to save the beach from erosion has slightly altered the original texture of the sand.
Cagliari has one of the largest fish markets in all of Italy with a vast array of fish for sale to both the public and trade.

Cagliari: Local cuisine

Cagliari has some peculiar gastronomic traditions. Many dishes are based on the wide variety of fish and sea food available, for example, burrida. Although it is possible to trace influences from Spanish gastronomy, Cagliaritanian food has a distintctive and unique character. Very good wines are also part of Cagliaritanians' dinners: excellent wines are in fact produced in the nearby vineyards of the Campidano plain.
Life in Cagliari has been vividly depicted by Sergio Atzeni, who set many of his novels and short stories in ancient and modern Cagliari. Among these, available in English, is "Bakunin's son".
A church in Cagliari gives its name to Buenos Aires. The Spaniard who founded Buenos Aires visited the church of Bonaria (fair winds) and asked for help from the Mary of Bonaria, to whom the church is dedicated. The church faces the sea and was allegedly built where a sailor landed after the Mary of Bonaria appeared in the midst of a tempest and saved the sailor and his ship from sinking.

Cagliari localities:
ASSEMINI Ballao Barrali Burcei CAGLIARI CAPOTERRA CASTIADAS Decimomannu Decimoputzu DOLIANOVA Domus De Maria Donori Elmas Gesico Goni Guamaggiore Guasila Mandas MARACALAGONIS Monastir MONSERRATO MURAVERA Nuraminis Ortacesus Pimentel PULA Quartu Sant''elena QUARTUCCIU Samatzai San Basilio San Nicolo'' Gerrei SAN SPERATE SAN VITO Sant''andrea Frius Sarroch Selargius Selegas Senorbi'' Serdiana SESTU SETTIMO SAN PIETRO Siliqua Silius SINNAI Siurgus Donigala SOLEMINIS Suelli TEULADA Ussana UTA Vallermosa Villa San Pietro VILLAPUTZU Villasalto VILLASIMIUS Villasor Villaspeciosa

Part of the information regarding the history, the art, the traditions and the events of the province of present Cagliari on this page is drawn from the situated one www.wikipedia.org respecting the GNU Free Documentation License.