Cagliari and its Districts

A universe of nature, art and tradition

A stronghold on seven hills in the middle of the Golfo degli Angeli, where the great peoples of the “mare nostrum” left indelible traces.

The striking landscape setting of Cagliari adds value to the complex universe of art and tradition of this town.

All around it you find the promontory of the Sella del Diavolo (Devil’s Saddle) with the coves of Calamosca, and the tourist port of Marina Piccola; the long Beach Poetto with the ponds (Park of Molentargius and old saltworks), through the Mediterranean Park of Monte Urpinu, up to the other area of ponds west of the gulf.

A crossroads of peoples and cultures

Cagliari is a crossroads of peoples and cultures, columns of the Mediterranean identity (Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Spaniards and Catalans). This town has in fact ancient origins, as the findings in the area of Colle San Michele evidence.

We also find here the footprint of the Nuragic civilization. The National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari preserves the artefacts found in some of the most important centres of this civilization, Barumini, Nurri and Orroli.

District Castello (Casteddu ‘e Susu)

Browsing the pages of the history of Cagliari means entering the four districts of the Old Town. The heart of this area, the Castello District (“Casteddu ‘e Susu” to distinguish it from the entire town “Casteddu”), has its ideal centre in the Cathedral of Santa Maria, and is surrounded by the characteristics Pisan fortifications with the Torre San Pancrazio and the Torre dell’Elefante.

Here we find the most important cultural institutions: the Cittadella dei Musei (where you find, among others, the National Archaeological Museum and the National Art Gallery) and the University of Cagliari, founded in the XVII century. The neoclassical Bastione of Saint Remy is a sort of hinge between Castello and the underlying districts of Villanova and Marina.

District Villanova

The District Villanova, which extends inland and has an agricultural origin (as the simplicity of the oldest buildings evidence), contains the most significant expressions of Sardinian religious architecture: above all the Basilica of San Saturno (V century) and the thirteenth-century complex of San Domenico (the highest expression of Gothic art in the region).

District Marina

The lively District Marina is in the nineteenth-century style, with the portico of via Roma and the picturesque streets behind it. Here you find a rich historical heritage in the archaeological area found in the basement of the Church of Sant’Eulalia.

District Stampace

The Roman Carales survives mostly in the medieval District Stampace. This district, in addition to the sites of the Roman world (above all the Amphitheatre and the Villa di Tigellio) and of Christian worship (the Crypt of Santa Restituta and the Crypt of Sant’Efisio), also preserves the most important example of a Punic necropolis in the Mediterranean area: the remains of the Tuvixeddu necropolis.

Sagra of Sant’Efisio

The streets of Stampace are also the place where Cagliari has been celebrating the Sagra di Sant’Efisio on May the 1st for three and a half centuries.

It is the most participated religious procession in the island.

The characteristic “traccas” (ancient decorated agricultural carts) open the parade offering to the saint the best products of fields; then it is the turn of thousands people in traditional dresses coming from all over Sardinia. They are folowed by groups of equestrians from Campidano, the “Militia”, the “Guardiania” and finally the cart of S.Efisio.