Poetto is the main beach of

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

in Sardinia, Italy. It stretches for about 8 km, from Sella del Diavolo ('Devil's Saddle') up to the coastline of

Quartu Sant'Elena Quartu Sant'Elena (; sc, Cuartu Sant'Aleni; ), located four miles East from Cagliari on the ancient Roman road, is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It is the third biggest city of Sardinia with a populat ...

. Poetto is also the name of the district located on the western stretch of the strip between the beach and

Molentargius - Saline Regional Park 250px, View towards the Molentargius salt mills. Molentargius - Saline Regional Park (Italian: ''Parco naturale regionale Molentargius - Saline'') is a regional park in Sardinia, Italy. It was established in 1999 with the aim to protect and enh ...

Etymology

The name of the beach supposedly derives from an Aragon Tower named "Poet's Tower", which is still visible above the Sella del Diavolo. Another hypothesis is that the name "Poetto" is linked to the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

''pohuet'' ('small well'), referring to the numerous wells and tanks scattered on the Sella del Diavolo for the storage of rainwater. The name could also derive from the Spanish word ''puerto'', since the first part, Marina Piccola, is also a port.

History

Until 1900 Poetto beach was not very popular with Cagliaritans, who instead preferred the west side of the

Golfo degli Angeli "Sella del Diavolo" (Devil's saddle) promontory seen from the Poetto beach near Cagliari. The Golfo di Cagliari ( en, Gulf of Cagliari, sc, Golfu de Casteddu), also known as Golfo degli Angeli ( en, Gulf of the Angels) is a large bay in souther ...

, with the beaches of ''Sa Perdixedda'' ( Sardinian, 'small stone') and Giorgino. It was during the first decades of the 20th century that people began to appreciate the white

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s of Poetto, and the first seaside resorts ("Lido" and "D'Aquila"), bars and even a hospital (Ospedale Marino) were built. A number of ''casotti'' (coloured wooden constructions halfway between a dressing room and a tiny house on the seashore) were built, imitating the first Lido's "cabine" (dressing rooms). The ''casotti'', however, were entirely removed in 1986 for sanitation reasons. Their removal, the overcrowding, and a lack of erosion prevention work, caused a gradual dispersal of sand and a fast erosion of the shoreline in the nineties. To avoid the disappearance of the

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, a

rainbowing Rainbowing is the process in which a dredging ship propels sand that has been claimed from the ocean floor in a high arc to a particular location. This is used for multiple purposes, ranging from building up a beach to prevent erosion to construct ...

http://www.ilpoetto.com/poetto.html Information on the rainbowing case (Italian) was tried on the

side in 2002: the sand was reclaimed and sprayed onto the beach using a fleet of dredging ships a few miles from the shore, in an attempt to restore the beach to its original size. However, the result was not as successful as expected: the white, fine-grained sand was replaced by sand of a completely different color, size and consistency. Years later the situation has not improved, and the quartese stretch, which initially remained intact after a few years, has now begun to have the same problems due to the removal of sand by the wind, people and the sea.

Administrative division

Poetto is popularly divided into ''fermate'' (stops), which means the various stretches of beach are recognized by the number of the bus stop or urban line linking the city centre district. The most popular is the 1st stop, adjacent to the port of

Marina Piccola Marina Piccola ("little harbor"; also Marina di Mulo) is located on the southern side of the island of Capri. It is near the Faraglioni sea stacks to the southeast. The Via Krupp is a historic switchback paved footpath which connect the Charterho ...

, just below the Sella del Diavolo. Very famous and popular are the 2nd (D'Aquila), 3rd (Lido), 4th and the 6th, home of an old hospital and of major events (championships of

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...

beach football Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...

and concerts). Around the 10th stop the coastline belonging to the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

begins.

Nightlife

Poetto is also the entertainment district for Cagliari's nightlife and attracts many tourists. Especially from June to September, one can listen to live music, go to discos, participate in dance lessons or karaoke or simply walk on the seashore. The most popular clubs are Il Lido, Plan B, Sax Beach and Frontemare.

References

External links