Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, an

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitants, while its

metropolitan city A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

(including Cagliari and 16 other nearby municipalities) has more than 431,000 inhabitants. According to Eurostat, the population of the

Functional urban area The larger urban zone (LUZ), or functional urban area (FUA), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zone outside it. Th ...

, the commuting zone of Cagliari, rises to 476,975. Cagliari is the 26th largest city in Italy and the largest city on the island of Sardinia. An ancient city with a long history, Cagliari has seen the rule of several civilisations. Under the buildings of the modern city there is a continuous stratification attesting to human settlement over the course of some five thousand years, from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

to today. Historical sites include the prehistoric Domus de Janas, very damaged by cave activity, a large Carthaginian era necropolis, a Roman era

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

, three Pisan-era towers and a strong system of fortification that made the town the core of

Spanish Habsburg Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled bet ...

imperial power in the western

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. Its natural resources have always been its sheltered harbour, the often powerfully fortified hill of ''Castel di Castro'', the modern ''Casteddu'', the

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

from its lagoons, and, from the

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

, wheat from the

Campidano Campidano ( sc, Campidànu) is a plain located in South-Western Sardinia (Italy), covering approximately 100 kilometres between Cagliari and Oristano. Geography Geologically, it is a graben, a tectonic structure formed in the mid-Pliocene/early ...

plain and silver and other ores from the

Iglesiente The Iglesiente is a traditional and geographical subdivision of Sardinia, Italy. It encompasses the northern province of Carbonia-Iglesias and the south-western one of the province of Medio Campidano, and its main center is Iglesias. Languages ...

mines. Cagliari was the capital of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

from 1324 to 1848, when

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

became the formal capital of the kingdom (which in 1861 became the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

). 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 (among 8,092

comuni 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 ...

), comparable to that of several northern Italian cities. It is also the seat of the

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari ( it, Università degli Studi di Cagliari) is a university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 alon ...

, founded in 1607, and of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cagliari The Archdiocese of Cagliari ( la, Archidioecesis Calaritana) is a Roman Catholic archdiocese centred on the city of Cagliari. It holds the Primacy of Sardinia.

Early history

The Cagliari area has been inhabited since the

. It occupies a favourable position between the sea and a fertile plain and is surrounded by two

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es (which provides defence against attacks from the inland). There are high mountains nearby, to which people could evacuate if the settlement had to be given up. Relics of prehistoric inhabitants were found in the hill of Monte Claro ( Monte Claro culture) and in Cape Sant'Elia (several domus de janas). PUNIC ERA INSCRIPTION

Karaly ( xpu, 𐤊𐤓𐤋𐤉, ) was established around the 8th/7th century BC as one of a string of

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n colonies in Sardinia, including

Tharros Tharros (also spelled Tharras, Archaic Greek: , Hellenistic Greek, Tarras or Tarrae, Τάρραι) was an ancient city and former bishopric on the west coast of Sardinia, Italy. It is currently a Latin Catholic titular see and an archaeologica ...

. The etymology of the toponym is unknown. It almost certainly does not come from the Phoenician language, but it has some similarities with other Sardinian or Asia Minor toponyms. 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 The Stagno di Santa Gilla, or Stagno di Cagliari (literally ‘Pool of Cagliari’), is a coastal lagoon at the mouths of the rivers Cixerri and Mannu near Cagliari, on the Golfo degli Angeli in southern Sardinia, Italy. It has been designated ...

, 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. In the late 6th century BC

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...

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, Caralis was the headquarters of the praetor, Titus Manlius Torquatus, 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 its praetor. The Romans built a new settlement east of the old Punic city, the ''vicus munitus Caralis'' (i.e. the fortified

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

of Caralis) mentioned by

Varro Atacinus Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus (; 82 – c. 35 BC) was a Roman poet, more polished in his style than the more famous and learned Varro Reatinus, his contemporary, and therefore more widely read by the Augustan writers.Charles Thomas Cruttwell'' ...

. The two urban agglomerations merged gradually during the second century BC; to this process is perhaps attributable the plural name Carales. Florus calls it the ''urbs urbium'' or capital of Sardinia. He represents it as taken and severely punished by Gracchus, but this statement is wholly at variance with Livy's account of the wars of Gracchus, in Sardinia, according to which the cities were faithful to Rome, and the revolt was confined to the mountain tribes. In the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

between

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

and

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

, the citizens of Caralis were the first to declare in favor of the former, an example soon followed by the other cities of Sardinia; and Caesar himself touched there with his fleet on his return from Africa. A few years later, when Sardinia fell into the hands of Menas, the lieutenant of

Sextus Pompeius Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the las ...

, Caralis was the only city which offered any resistance, but was taken after a short siege. Cagliari continued to be regarded as the capital of the island under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, and though it did not become a

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

, obtained the status of ''

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the priv ...

''. Remains of Roman public buildings were found to the west of Marina in Piazza del Carmine. There was an area of ordinary housing near the modern Via Roma, and richer houses on the slopes of the Marina distinct. The amphitheatre is located to the west of the Castello. A Christian community is attested in Cagliari at least as early as the 3rd century, and by the end of that century the city had a Christian bishop. In the middle decades of the 4th century bishop

Lucifer of Cagliari Lucifer of Cagliari ( la, Lucifer Calaritanus, it, Lucifero da Cagliari; died 20 May 370 or 371) was a bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia known for his passionate opposition to Arianism. He is venerated as a Saint in Sardinia, though his status re ...

was exiled because of his opposition to the sentence against Athanasius of Alexandria at the

Synod of Milan The Synod of Milan or Council of Milan may refer to any of several synods which occurred in late Roman Mediolanum or medieval Milan in northern Italy's Po valley: Synod of 345 In 353 or 354, Pope Liberius wrote thus: ''"Eight years ago the Euseb ...

. He was banished to the desert of

Thebais The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...

by the emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic ...

. Claudian describes the ancient city of Karalis as extending to a considerable length towards the promontory or headland, the projection of which sheltered its port. The port affords good anchorage for large vessels, but besides this, which is only a well-sheltered standby, there is a large salt-water lake or lagoon, called the

Stagno di Cagliari The Stagno di Santa Gilla, or Stagno di Cagliari (literally ‘Pool of Cagliari’), is a coastal lagoon at the mouths of the rivers Cixerri and Mannu near Cagliari, on the Golfo degli Angeli in southern Sardinia, Italy. It has been designated as ...

, adjoining the city and communicating by a narrow channel with the bay, which appears from Claudian to have been used in ancient times as an inner harbor or basin. The promontory adjoining the city is evidently that noticed by Ptolemy (), but the Caralitanum Promontorium of

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

can be no other than the headland, now called

Capo Carbonara Cape Carbonara (Italian: ''Capo Carbonara'', Sardinian: ''Cabo Crabonaxa'') is a promontory on the southeastern tip of Sardinia, Italy, which forms the eastern end of the Gulf of Cagliari. Together with the nearby Cavoli Island and Serpentara Is ...

, which forms the eastern boundary of the Gulf of Cagliari and the southeast point of the whole island. Immediately off it lay the little island of Ficaria, now called the ''Isola dei Cavoli'' ("Cabbage Island" in Italian, ''Isula de is Càvurus'' "Crab Island" in Sardinian). After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

Cagliari fell, together with the rest of Sardinia, into the hands of the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

, but appears to have retained its importance throughout the Middle Ages. SanpietroCA

Judicate of Cagliari

Pluteo di età mediobizantina con grifo e pegaso

Subsequently, ruled by the Vandals,

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

, and then part of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, Cagliari became the capital of a gradually independent

Judicate The Judicates (, or in Sardinian, in Latin, or in Italian), in English also referred to as Sardinian Kingdoms, Sardinian Judgedoms or Judicatures, were independent states that took power in Sardinia in the Middle Ages, between the ninth an ...

, (from Latin Iudex, Governor and Supreme Magistrate, used in late Roman and Byzantine period, along with the medieval Greek ἄρχων). This state was born around 1020 and was overthrown by the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa ( it, Repubblica di Pisa) was an independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa, which existed from the 11th to the 15th century. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated ...

in 1258. Due to the overlap of buildings since the year 800 B.C., and the scarcity of archeological and historical informations, it was believed that the population was moved to more inland areas of the territory, along the lagoon, in a city called Santa Ilia or

Santa Igia Santa Igia or Santa Ilia, modern Santa Gilla lagoon (''Santa Ilia'' being a contraction of ''Santa Cecilia''Corrado Zedda; p. 121.), was a city in Sardinia, in what is now Italy, which existed from the 9th century AD to 1258, when it was destroyed ...

(modern San Gilla) and it was believed that the ancient Roman and Byzantine city had been abandoned because it was too exposed to attacks by Moorish pirates coming from north Africa and Spain. Recent studies have instead hypothesized that the capital of the Giudicato was located around the road that it directed towards Sassari, today called Corso Vittorio Emanuele II (in Sardinian language: Su Brugu, the borough), although there are not yet archeological confirmations, particularly of the Cathedral and the Judex Palace, destroyed after the Pisan conquest. The Judicate of Cagliari comprised a large area of the Campidano plain, the Sulcis-

and the mountain region of

Ogliastra The province of Ogliastra ( it, provincia dell'Ogliastra , sc, provìntzia de s'Ogiastra) was a former province in eastern Sardinia, Italy. Ogliastra was the most mountainous province in Sardinia. With only some 57,642 inhabitants, it was also t ...

11th to 13th century

During the 11th century, the

began to extend its political influence over the Judgedom of Cagliari. Pisa and the maritime

republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

had a keen interest in Sardinia because it was a perfect strategic base for controlling the commercial routes between Italy and North Africa. In 1215 the Pisan

Lamberto Visconti Lamberto Visconti di Eldizio (died 1225) was the Judge of Gallura from 1206, when he married the heiress Elena, to his own death. He was a member of the Visconti family of Pisa and the first of that dynasty to rule in Sardinia, where they lasted ...

, husband of

Elena of Gallura Elena (c. 1190–1218) was the daughter and successor of Barisone II of Gallura and was named after her mother Odolina of the Lacon family. First queen regnant in Sardinia, she ruled Gallura from the death of her father until her own death, tho ...

, forced the judikessa

Benedetta of Cagliari Benedetta (c. 1194 – 1232/33) was the daughter and heiress of William I of Cagliari and Adelasia, daughter of Moroello Malaspina. She succeeded her father in January or February 1214. She was consecrated in 1214 by Riccus, Archbishop of Ca ...

to give him the mount located east of

. Soon (1216–17) Pisan merchants established there a new fortified city, known as ''Castel di Castro'', which can be considered the ancestor of the modern city of Cagliari. In 1258, after the defeat of William III, the last king of Cagliari, the Pisans and their Sardinian allies (

Arborea Arborea is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on agriculture and cattle breeding with production of vegetables, rice, fruit and milk (notably the local milk product Arborea). Histo ...

Gallura Gallura ( sdn, Gaddura or ; sc, Caddura ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy. The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area". Geography Gallùra has a surface of and it is situated between 40°55'20"64 latitude ...

and

Logudoro The Logudoro (meaning "Golden Place") is a large traditional region Sardinia, Italy. The name of Logudoro today is linked to the Logudorese dialect, which covers a large area of northern-central Sardinia. The first denomination of the area is ...

) destroyed the old capital of Santa Igia. The Judgedom of Cagliari was then divided into three parts: the northeast third went to Gallura; the central portion was incorporated into Arborea; Sulcis and

, on the southwest, were given to the Pisan

della Gherardesca The House della Gherardesca was an old noble family of the Republic of Pisa, dating back as early as the 11th century of Longobard origin. They were an important one of the most prominent initially in Pisa, then of Volterra and eventually and of ...

family, while the Republic of Pisa maintained control over its colony of Castel di Castro. Some of the fortifications that still surround the current district of Castello were built by the Pisans, including the two remaining white limestone towers (early 14th century) designed by the architect Giovanni Capula. Together with the district of Castello, Castel di Castro comprised the districts of Marina (which included the port), and later and Villanova. Marina and Stampace were guarded by walls, in contrast to Villanova, which was mostly home to peasants.

14th to 17th centuries

In the second decade of the 14th century the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...

conquered Sardinia after a series of battles against the Pisans. During the siege of Castel di Castro (1324-1326), the Aragonese, led by Alfonso IV of Aragon, built a stronghold on a more southern hill, that of Bonaria. Braun_hogenberg_Cagliari_1572

When the fortified city was finally conquered by the Aragonese army, Castel di Castro (''Castel de Càller'' or simply Càller in

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 ...

) became the administrative capital of the newborn

, one of the many kingdoms forming the Crown of Aragon, which later came under the rule of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

. After the expulsion of the Tuscans, the Castello district was repopulated by the Aragonese settlers of Bonaria while the indigenous population was, as in the past, concentrated in Stampace and Villanova. The

kings of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

and later the

kings of Spain This is a list of Spanish monarchs, that is, rulers of the country of Spain. The forerunners of the monarchs of the Spanish throne were the following: * Kings of the Visigoths * Kings of Asturias * Kings of Navarre * Kings of León *Kings of G ...

, were represented in Cagliari by a

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

, who resided in the Palazzo Regio. PalazzoRegio3

In the 16th century the fortifications of the city were strengthened with the construction of the bastions and the rights and benefits of the Aragonese were extended to all citizens. The intellectual life was relatively lively and in the early years of the 17th century the university was founded.

18th century

In 1718, after a brief rule by the Habsburgs, Cagliari and

came under the House of Savoy. As rulers of Sardinia, the Savoys took the title of kings of the Sardinian kingdom. During the Savoyard Era, until 1848, the institutions of the Sardinian kingdom remained unchanged, but with the "

Perfect Fusion The Perfect Fusion ( it, Fusione perfetta) was the 1847 act of the Savoyard king Charles Albert of Sardinia which abolished the administrative differences between the mainland states ( Savoy and Piedmont) and the island of Sardinia, in a fashion ...

" in that year, all the possessions of the House of Savoy House, comprising Savoy,

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

(now part of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and from 1815

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, were merged into a unitary state. Although Sardinian by name, the kingdom had its parliament in

, where the Savoys resided, and its members were mainly aristocrats from

or the mainland. In the late 18th century during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

France tried to conquer Cagliari because of its strategic role in the Mediterranean sea ('' Expédition de Sardaigne''). A French army landed on Poetto beach and advanced towards Cagliari, but the French were defeated by Sardinians who had decided to defend themselves against the revolutionary army. The people of Cagliari hoped to receive some concession from the Savoys in return for their defence of the town. For example, aristocrats from Cagliari asked for a Sardinian representative in the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of the kingdom. When the Savoyards refused any concession to the Sardinians, the inhabitants of Cagliari rose up against them and expelled all the representatives of the kingdom along with the Piedmontese rulers. This insurgence is celebrated in Cagliari during ''

Sa die de sa Sardigna Sardinia's Day ( sc, sa die de sa Sardigna ; sdc, la dì di la Sardigna; sdn, la dì di la Saldigna; ca, label= Algherese, lo dia de la Sardenya; it, il giorno della Sardegna), also known as Sardinian people's Day ( it, Giornata del popolo sa ...

'' ("The day of Sardinia") on the last weekend of April. However, the Savoys regained control of the town after a brief period of

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

rule.

Modern age

The population by the 1840s had reached 29,000. Starting in the 1870s, in the wake of the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, 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 Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Cagliari was heavily bombed by the Allies in February 1943. In order to escape from the danger of

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...

s 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 The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

. After the

Italian armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

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 Elmas, Su Masu in Sardinian language, is a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Cagliari in the Italian region of Sardinia, located about northwest of Cagliari. Until 1989 Elmas was a district of Cagliari. It is best known ...

, Monserrato,

Decimomannu Decimomannu ( sc, Deximumannu or ) is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It is located about northwest of central Cagliari and had a population of about 8,115 . Geography Decimomannu borders the municipalities of ...

, currently a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

airbase) were used by Allied aircraft to fly to North Africa or mainland Italy and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. After the war, the population of Cagliari grew again and many apartment blocks and recreational areas were erected in new residential districts.

Coats of Arms of Cagliari

File:Stemma di Cagliari pisana.jpg, 13th century File:STEMMA DI CAGLIARI NELLA CORONA D'ARAGONA dal gonfalone dell'università, 1606.jpg, From the 14th to 17th century File:Cagliari-Stemma sabaudo da L'archivio comunale di Cagliari.png, From the 18th century to the present

Geography

The city of Cagliari is situated in the south of Sardinia, overlooking the centre of the eponymous gulf, also called

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 ...

("Bay of Angels") after an ancient legend. The city is spread over and around the hill of the historic district of Castello and nine other limestone hills of the middle-to-late Miocene, unique heights of a little more than above sea level on the long plains of Campidano. The plain is actually a Graben formed during the Alpine orogeny of the Cenozoic, which separated Sardinia from the European continent, roughly where the

Gulf of Lion The Gulf of Lion or Gulf of Lions (French: ''golfe du Lion'', Spanish: ''golfo de León'', Italian: ''Golfo del Leone'', Occitan: ''golf del/dau Leon'', Catalan: ''golf del Lleó'', Medieval Latin: ''sinus Leonis'', ''mare Leonis'', Classical L ...

is now. The Graben filled in the course of

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

movements associated with the breakup of the ancient island

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

skeleton.

The repeated intrusion of the sea left calcareous sediments that formed a series of hills that mark the territory of Cagliari. Castello is where the fortified town arose in the Middle Age near the harbour of the port, other hills are those of Mount Urpinu, the St. Elias hill, also known as the ''Sella del Diavolo'' ("Saddle of the Devil") for its shape, Tuvumannu and Tuvixeddu, the site of the ancient Punic and Roman necropolis, the small Bonaria hill, where the basilica stands, and the San Michele hill, with the eponymous castle on top. The modern city occupies the flat spaces between the hills and the sea to the south and southeast, along the Poetto beach, the lagoons and ponds of Santa Gilla and Molentargius, and the remains of more recent marine intrusions, in an articulate landscape with many landmarks and panoramas of the bay, the plain, and the mountains that surround it on the east (The Seven Brothers and Serpeddì) and west (the mountains of

Capoterra Capoterra ( sc, Cabuderra; ; from Latin ''Caput Terrae'', "head of the Earth") is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. At 2011 national census it had 24,017 inhabitants and is part of the Cagliari metropol ...

). On the cold, clear days of winter, the snowy peaks of Gennargentu can be seen from the highest points of the city. Cagliari

The city has four historic neighbourhoods: Castello, Marina, Stampace and Villanova and several modern districts (such as San Benedetto, Monte Urpinu and Genneruxi at the east, Sant'Avendrace at the west, Is Mirrionis/San Michele at north and Bonaria, La Palma and Poetto at the south), grown when part of the ancient walls had been demolished in the middle of the 19th century.

Pirri

The comune of Cagliari has one

circoscrizione ''Circoscrizione'' (; plural: ''circoscrizioni'') can refer to two different administrative units of Italy. One is an electoral district approximating to the English ''constituency'' but typically the size of a province or region, depending on the ...

, the town of

Pirri José Martínez Sánchez (born 11 March 1945), nicknamed Pirri, is a Spanish former footballer. A central midfielder in the early part of his career, he finished up as a sweeper. He spent the vast majority of his career with Real Madrid, appear ...

(about 30.000 inhabitants), former village of the Campidano absorbed in the fast growth after the

Parks and recreation

Cagliari is one of the "greenest" Italian cities. Every inhabitant of Cagliari has access to of public gardens and parks. Its mild climate allows the growth of numerous subtropical plants, such as ''

Jacaranda mimosifolia ''Jacaranda mimosifolia'' is a sub-tropical tree native to south-central South America that has been widely planted elsewhere because of its attractive and long-lasting violet-colored flowers. It is also known as the jacaranda, blue jacaranda, ...

'', ''

Ficus macrophylla ''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New So ...

'', with some huge specimens in Via Roma and in the University Botanic Gardens, ''

Erythrina caffra ''Erythrina caffra'', the coast coral tree or African coral tree, is a tree native to southeastern Africa, which is often cultivated and has introduced populations in California and India. All the 17 species of coral tree in the genus ''Erythri ...

'' with its stunning red flowers, ''

Ficus retusa ''Ficus retusa'' is a species of evergreen woody plant in the fig genus, native to the Malay Archipelago and Malesia floristic region. The species name has been widely mis-applied to ''Ficus microcarpa''. Description ''Ficus retusa'' is a rapi ...

'', which provides shade for several of the city's streets, ''

Araucaria heterophylla ''Araucaria heterophylla'' (synonym ''A. excelsa'') is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific ...

'', the date palm (''

Phoenix dactylifera ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Ea ...

''), the Canary Islands palm (''

Phoenix canariensis ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm or pineapple palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true ...

'') and the Mexican Fan Palm (''

Washingtonia robusta ''Washingtonia robusta'', known by common name as the Mexican fan palm, Mexican washingtonia, or skyduster is a palm tree native to the Baja California peninsula and a small part of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. Despite its limited native dist ...

''). Major city parks include: Monte_Urpinu_Cagliari

* Monte Urpinu Park, the most wooded, is a low hill covered by a pine ('' Pinus halepensis Mill.'') and evergreen oak ('' Quercus ilex L.'') forest with a dense Mediterranean maquis of mastic ('' Pistacia lentiscus L.''), juniper ('' Juniperus phoenicea L.''), Kermes oak ('' Quercus coccifera L.''), wild olive ('' Olea europaea L. ssp. europaea, var. sylvestris'') and tree spurge ('' Euphorbia dendroides L.''). It extends for about . * Park of San Michele hill (about 25 hectares), with its medieval castle on the top; * Terramaini Park, about , with a little pond which is home to flamingos and other wading birds; * Monte Claro Provincial Park, about , which hosts the provincial library in an old mansion on the top of the hill; * Ex-vetreria Pirri Park, about ; * Public gardens, the oldest public esplanade of the city, planted in the 19th century, with a wonderful promenade of '' Jacaranda mimosifolia D.Don''. The Molentargius - Saline Regional Park is located near the city. Some mountain parks, such as Monte Arcosu or Maidopis, with large forests and wildlife (Sardinian deer, wild boars, etc.) are also nearby. Poetto spiaggia

Beaches

The main beach of Cagliari is the Poetto. It stretches for about , from Sella del Diavolo ("Devil's Saddle") up to the coastline of Quartu Sant'Elena. Poetto is also the name of the district located on the western stretch of the strip between the beach and Saline di Molentargius ("Molentargius's Salt Mine"). Another smaller beach is that of Calamosca near the Sant'Elia district. On the coast between Calamosca and Poetto beaches, among the cliffs of the Sella del Diavolo, lies Cala Fighera, a small bay. Cagliari is close to other seaside locations such as Santa Margherita di Pula, Chia, Geremeas,

Solanas Solanas is a small village administrated by Sinnai, in the province of Cagliari. Position Solanas is located in the south coast of Sardinia at ~36 km east from Cagliari, and at ~16 km west from Villasimius. It is administrated by Sinn ...

Villasimius Villasimius (; sro, Crabonaxa ), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region of Sardinia, located about east of Cagliari. History Due to its strategically important site, Villasimius' territory was in ...

and

Costa Rei Costa Rei is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Muravera in southern Sardinia. It features a 12 km long beach. Economy Costa Rei is a popular destination for tourists, most of which are from Germany Germany,, officially the Fe ...

Climate

Cagliari has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Csa''), with hot, dry summers and mild winters like other historical regions along the coast. Its precipitation values also bring it closer to

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

conditions. The summer extreme values can be slightly over , sometimes with very high humidity, while in winter, under special and rare conditions, the temperature drops slightly below zero. Heavy snowfalls occur on average every thirty years. The average temperature of the coldest month, January, is about , and of the warmest month, August, about . But heat waves can occur, due to African anticyclone, starting in June. From mid-June to mid-September, rain is a rare event, limited to brief afternoon storms. The rainy season starts in September, and the first cold days come in December. Winds are frequent, especially the

mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Microp ...

and

sirocco Sirocco ( ), scirocco, or, rarely, siroc (see below) is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season. Names ''Sirocco'' derives from ...

; in summer a marine sirocco breeze (called ''s'imbattu'' in Sardinian language) lowers the temperature and brings some relief from the heat.

Demographics

According to ISTAT, in 2014 there were 154,356 people residing in Cagliari (+3.0% compared with 2011), of whom 71,522 were male and 82,834 female for a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...

of 0.86. Minors (children aged 18 and younger) totaled 12.92% of the population, compared to pensioners at 24.81%. The average age of Cagliari residents is 47.44. The ratio of the population over 65 years of age to that under the age of 18, is 53.39%. The elderly population, defined as being over 65 years of age, has increased by 21.95% over the last 10 years. The current birth rate in Cagliari is 6.29 births per 1,000 inhabitants. The average number of people of any age per household is 2.11 and the percentage of households composed of a single person is 42.53%. The population of Cagliari is structured like that of other first world countries, especially as to the prevalence of an elderly population. The trend of these rates in the Cagliari metropolitan area is proportionally reversed in the suburbs, where most younger families move. , 4.26% (6,658 people) of the population was foreign, of which the largest group were

Filipinos Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or othe ...

(21.33%), followed by

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

(11.93%),

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

(10.93%),

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

(9.49%) and

Senegalese Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

(9.49%). In 1928, during the fascist regime, the neighbouring municipalities of

, Monserrato, Selargius,

Quartucciu Quartucciu ( sc, Cuartùcciu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari. History Human presences in the territory of Quartucciu is attested since ...

and

, were merged with that of Cagliari. Mussolini's regime wanted to streamline the local administration by eliminating many small towns and at the same time show that Italy was a major power with many large cities. After the war these small municipalities gradually regained their autonomy, except for the former town of

. The first table shows the inhabitants of the town in its present borders, the second one the commune population including the merged municipalities.

Metropolitan City

The Metropolitan City of Cagliari has been established in 2016 by a Sardinia Regional Law and totals about 431,000 inhabitants according to ISTAT. It is composed of 17 municipalities along the coast of the gulf and up to of the inner Campidano plain. It covers an area on the plain of Campidano between large basins (Santa Gilla lagoon and salt mills of about 30 km2 or 3200 acres), ponds (

Molentargius 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 ...

, 16,22 km2 (40,10 acres) and the depopulated mountains up to above sea level. The mountains are largely covered by forests mostly managed by the Ente Foreste of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. To the west these amount to on the Capoterra and Pula mountains. Monte Arcosu WWF Natural Reserve has another , and to the east on Mount Serpeddì and Sette Fratelli there are a total of of forest. The Metropolitan City is defined by municipalities where the population increased between the last two censuses, in a region where the population is otherwise generally decreasing. These municipalities welcome immigrants to the urban area whose main nucleus, the city of Cagliari, has a high number of elderly people. In the last century, the population of the municipalities of the metropolitan area increased by 354% and in the last 50 years by 158% (1911: 128,444; 1961: 288,683; 2011: 454,819). For the whole of Sardinia this increase was respectively 88% and 15% (1911: 868,181; 1961: 1,419,362; 2011: 1,639,362). The urbanisation towards the area of Cagliari was, in percentage terms, impressive, making the capital of the island a metropolis surrounded by rural areas increasingly depopulated. This urbanisation is also reflected in the concentration in Cagliari of most of the economic activities and wealth.

Economy

Cagliari - Sella del Diavolo - Capo Sant'Elia

According to 2014 data from the Italian Ministry of Economic Affairs, the inhabitants of Cagliari benefited a per capita income of 23,220 euros (being the fifth Regional Capital), that is the 122% of the national average, while all of Sardinia benefited only 16,640 euros, being the 13th Region and 86% of the national average. The metropolitan area benefited an average income of 19,185 euros, 103% of the national average. With the 26% of the island population the Cagliari Metropolitan City produces the 31% of its GDP. As the capital city of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, Cagliari is the administrative hub and headquarters of the region as well as of the provincial and regional offices of the Italian central administration. Cagliari is also the main trade and industrial centre of the island, with numerous commercial sites and factories within its metropolitan boundaries. Cagliari is the fourth port of Italy for movement of goods in tons (35,922,468), and the 18th for passengers (705,715), of whome 394,697 cruise passengers (8th in Italy). The first department store, (

La Rinascente (La) Rinascente (; ) is a collection of high-end stores with Italian and international brands in fashion, accessories, beauty, homeware, design and food. It operates eleven stores in Italy, including its general headquarters in Milan and two fl ...

) opened in 1931 in the centre of the city, and it is still open today. Nowadays there are many commercial centres in the metropolitan area (Le Vele, Santa Gilla, La Corte del Sole, Marconi) hosting many European chain stores such as Auchan, Metro AG,

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

, MediaWorld,

Euronics Euronics International Ltd. is an international association of over 11,000 independent electrical retailers in 37 countries. It functions as a leading international electrical retail group on behalf of its members, and is based in Amsterdam ...

, Jysk, IKEA,

Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...

and Bata Shoes. Cagliari is also home to an

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

customer service center. Cagliari is the main operational headquarters of the

Banco di Sardegna Banco may refer to: Places * Banc (Barcelona Metro), also called Banco, a closed metro stop on the Barcelona metro * Banco, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco National Park, a nation ...

, which belongs to the BPER Group and is listed on Borsa Italiana, of the Banca di Cagliari. Banca di Credito Sardo was based in Cagliari until it was absorbed by the parent company

Intesa Sanpaolo Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. is an Italian international banking group. It is Italy's largest bank by total assets and the world's 27th largest. It was formed through the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in 2007, but has a corporate identity ...

. The Macchiareddu-Grogastru area between Cagliari and Capoterra is one of the most important industrial areas of Sardinia, in conjunction with a large international container terminal port at Giorgino. Beside having one of the biggest container terminals on the Mediterranean Sea, Cagliari also has one of the largest fish markets in Italy offering for sale a vast array of fish to both the public and traders. The communications provider

Tiscali Tiscali S.p.a. () is an Italian telecommunications company, based in Cagliari, Sardinia, that provides internet and telecommunications services to its domestic market. It previously had operations in other European nations through its acquisitio ...

also has its headquarters in Cagliari. Multinational corporations like

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Feb ...

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

, Bridgestone and Eni Group have factories in town. One of the six oil refinery supersites in Europe,

Saras Saras (in some cases written variously as Sarras) may refer to: * Saras, Sudan (sometimes divided into "Saras East" and "West" by its placement along the Nile) * Saras S.p.A., oil refining company of the Massimo Moratti family * National Aerospa ...

, is located within the metropolitan area at Sarroch. Lungomare Poetto - Cagliari

Tourism is one of the major industries of the city, although historical venues such as its monumental

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and Early modern period defence system, its Carthaginian, Roman and Byzantine ruins are less highlighted compared to the recreational beaches and coastline. Cruise ships touring the Mediterranean often stop for passengers at Cagliari, and the city is a traffic hub to the nearby beaches of

, Chia, Pula and

, as well as to the urban beach of Poettu. Pula is home to the archaeological site of the Punic and Roman city of

Nora Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...

. Especially in summer many clubs and pubs are goals for young locals and tourists. Pubs and night-clubs are concentrated in the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, a narrow street in Stampace district, in the Marina district, near the port and in the Castello district, The clubs are mostly to be found on the Poetto Beach (in summer) or in Viale Marconi (in winter). In Cagliari there are 180 B&B and 22 hotels that totals 3,300 beds. There are many others hotels in seaside resort of his gulf.

Main sights

Considerable remains of the ancient city of Karalis are still visible, including those of the Tuvixeddu necropolis (the largest Punic necropolis still in existence), the

Roman amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, '' venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Ro ...

, traditionally called ''Is centu scalas'' ("One hundred steps"), and of an aqueduct used to provide generally scarce water. Still visible are also some ancient cisterns of vast extent, the ruins of a small circular temple, and numerous sepulchres on a hill outside the modern town that appear to have formed the necropolis of the ancient city. The amphitheatre stages open-air operas and concerts during the summer. Basilica di S

The Palaeo-Christian Basilica of San Saturnino, dedicated to a martyr killed under Diocletian's reign,

Saturninus of Cagliari Saint Saturninus of Cagliari ( it, San Saturnino, Saturno) is venerated as the patron saint of Cagliari. According to Christian tradition, Saturninus was a local martyr –that is, he was killed at Cagliari by order of governor Barbarus.

, patron saint of the city, was built in the 5th century. Of the original building the dome and the central part remain, to which two arms (one with a nave and two aisles) were added later. A Palaeo-Christian crypt is also under the church of ''San Lucifero'' (1660), dedicated to Saint Lucifer, a bishop of the city. The church has a Baroque façade with ancient columns and sculpted parts, some of which came from the nearby necropolis. Cagliari02

The old medieval town (called ''Castello'' in Italian, ''Casteddu de susu'' in Sardinian, "the upper castle") lies on top of a hill with a view of the Gulf of Cagliari (also known as Angels' Gulf). Most of its city walls are intact and include two early 14th-century white limestone towers, the Torre di San Pancrazio and the

Torre dell'Elefante The Torre dell'Elefante (Italian: "Tower of the Elephant") is a medieval tower in Cagliari, southern Sardinia, Italy. It is located in the Castello historical quarter of the city. History The tower was built in 1307, during the Pisan domina ...

, typical examples of Pisan military architecture. The local white limestone was also used to build the walls of the city and many other buildings, besides the towers. The exact period of construction of a fortress on this hill is unknown at present, due to the superposition of layers of buildings along the history. Some scholars have suggested a first urbanization of the quarter in the Punic era on the basis of similarity of the planimetry with the contemporary Carthaginian fortress of Monte Sirai. Recently, archaeological excavations have identified Punic and Roman buildings under the ramparts of the fortress. Already the Roman poet

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

called the city "Vicus munitus", a fortified city, and sixteenth-century authors describe a Roman acropolis perhaps still visible in their day.

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

, in his memoir of a voyage to Sardinia, '' Sea and Sardinia'', that he undertook in January 1921, described the effect of warm Mediterranean sunlight on the white limestone city and compared Cagliari to a "white Jerusalem". Cattedrale_Cagliari

The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

was restored in the 1930s, returning the former Baroque façade into a Medieval Pisan-style façade more akin to the original appearance of the church in the 13th century. The bell tower is original. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with a pulpit (1159–1162) sculpted for the

Cathedral of Pisa Pisa Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of the t ...

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. Before 1900 it was the island's governor's palace. Basilica di Bonaria

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria ( from which the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, gets its name) was built by the Catalans in 1324–1329 when they were besieging the Pisans in Castello. It has a small

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

portal in the façade and the interior houses a wooden statue of the Madonna, which, after having been thrown off a Spanish ship, landed at the foot of Bonaria hill. Bonaria hill is also the location of the

Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria The Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria is located in 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 '' ...

. The ''Chiesa della Purissima'' is a

Catalan Gothic Catalan Gothic is an artistic style, with particular characteristics in the field of architecture. It occurred under the Crown of Aragon between the 13th and 15th centuries, which places it at the end of the European Gothic period and at the begin ...

church built in the 16th century in the Castello distinct. The other early districts of the town (Marina, Stampace and Villanova) retain much of their original character. In Stampace the Torre dello Sperone, another tower built by the Pisans in the late 13th century, is located, as well as two important monumental churches: the ''Collegiata di Sant'Anna'' and the ''Chiesa di San Michele'', both built in the 18th century in a baroque style. Many more churches, both old and modern, can be found throughout the city. The Promenade Deck and the Terrazza Umberto I were designed in 1896 by the engineers Joseph Costa and Fulgenzio Setti. The entire building was built of white and yellow limestone in a classical style with

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

. It was opened in 1901. A staircase with two flights provides access from Constitution Square. It is interrupted by a covered walkway and ends beneath the Arc de Triomphe, in the Terrazza Umberto I. In 1943, during World War II, the staircase and the Arch of Triumph were severely damaged by aerial bombardment, but after the conflict they were faithfully reconstructed. From the Terrazza Umberto I the Bastion of Santa Caterina can be accessed via a short flight of steps. Here there was once an old Dominican convent, destroyed by fire in 1800. According to tradition, the conspiracy to kill the Viceroy Camarassa in 1666 was set up in the surroundings of the monastery. Liberty Cagliari

The Promenade Deck was inaugurated in 1902. At first it was used as a banqueting hall, then during the First World War as an infirmary. In the 1930s, during the period of sanctions, it was an exhibition of

autarky Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems. Autarky as an ideal or method has been embraced by a wide range of political ideologies and movements, especiall ...

. During World War II it served as a shelter for displaced people whose homes had been destroyed by bombs. In 1948 it hosted the first Trade Fair of Sardinia. After many years of decay, the Promenade was restored and re-evaluated as a cultural space reserved especially for art exhibitions. The modern districts built in the late 19th and early 20th century contain examples of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

architecture, as well as controversial examples of Fascist neoclassicism architecture, such as the Court of Justice (''Palazzo di Giustizia'') in Republic Square. The Court of Justice is near the biggest city park, Monte Urpinu, with its pine trees, artificial lakes, and a vast area with a hill. The Orto Botanico dell'Università di Cagliari, the city's botanical garden, is also of interest.

Culture

The city has numerous libraries and is also home to the State Archive, containing thousands of handwritten documents from the foundation of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1325 AD) to the present. In addition to numerous local and university department libraries, the most important libraries are the old University Library, with thousands of ancient books, the Provincial Library, the Regional Library, and the Mediateca of the Mediterranean, which contains the municipal archive and library collection. In the first century B.C. a famous singer and musician from Cagliari, Tigellius, lived in Rome and was satirized by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

and Horace. The history of Sardinian literature begins in Cagliari in the first century A.D. In the funerary monument of Atilia Pomptilla, carved into the rock of the necropolis of Tuvixeddu, poems are engraved in Greek and Latin dedicated to his dead wife. Some of them, particularly those in the Greek language, have literary merit. The first Sardinian literary author known was Bishop

, who wrote severe pamphlets against the Arian heresy in the fourth century A.D. Only in the eleventh century A.D. did the first texts of an administrative nature appear in the modern Sardinian language, together with hagiographs of local martyrs written in Latin. Life in Cagliari has been depicted by many writers, starting with the late Roman poet Claudian. In the late 16th century, the local humanist Roderigo Hunno Baeza dedicated to his town a didactic Latin poem, ''Caralis Panegyricus''. At the beginning of the 17th century Juan Francisco Carmona wrote a hymn to Cagliari in Spanish; Jacinto Arnal De Bolea published in 1636, in Spanish, the first novel set in Cagliari, entitled ''El Forastero''. David Herbert Lawrence wrote about the city in his '' Sea and Sardinia''. Modern writers connected to Cagliari include Giuseppe Dessì,

Giulio Angioni Giulio Angioni (28 October 1939 – 12 January 2017) was an Italian writer and anthropologist. Biography Angioni was a leading Italian anthropologist, professor at the University of Cagliari and fellow of St Antony's College of the University o ...

, Giorgio Todde, Sergio Atzeni, (who set many of his novels and short stories, such as ''Bakunin's Son'', in ancient and modern Cagliari),

Flavio Soriga Flavio Soriga (born 1975 in Uta, Sardinia) is an Italian writer. Biography Flavio Soriga is the youngest representative of the Sardinian literary nouvelle vague, aka Sardinian Literary Spring, namely the Sardinian narrative of today in the ...

Cagliari was the birthplace or residence of the composer

Ennio Porrino Ennio Porrino (20 January 1910 – 25 September 1959) was an Italian composer and teacher. Amongst his compositions were orchestral works, an oratorio and several operas and ballets. His best known work is the symphonic poem ''Sardegna'', a tr ...

, of the film, theatre and TV director

Nanni Loy Nanni Loy (born Giovanni Loi; 23 October 1925 – 21 August 1995) was an Italian film, theatre and TV director. Specifically, Nanni Loy was Sardinian, and one of several notable Sardinian film makers, including Franco Solinas. Biography Lo ...

, and of the actors Gianni Agus,

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 in Cagliari – 5 November 1979 in Rome) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Al ...

and Pier Angeli (born Anna Maria Pierangeli). Excluding the Roman era amphitheater, the first theater was inaugurated in Cagliari in 1767: the Teatro Zapata, later becoming the Civic Theatre. Devastated by bombing in 1943, it was recently restored, but the roof was not rebuilt, and today it serves as an open-air theatre. The Politeama Regina Margherita, inaugurated in 1859, was destroyed by fire in 1942 and never rebuilt. Although

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

had, and in part still has, a solid tradition the city, it was left without a true theater until 1993 when a new opera house, the Teatro Lirico, was inaugurated. Inside there is a music compound with a music conservatory with its own auditorium, and a music park. Cagliari is and was home to opera singers such as the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

Giovanni Matteo Mario Giovanni Matteo De Candia, also known as Mario (17 October 1810 – 11 December 1883), was an Italian opera singer. The most celebrated tenor of his era, he was lionized by audiences in Paris and London. He was the partner of the opera singer Giul ...

(Giovanni Matteo De Candia, 1810–1883) and Piero Schiavazzi (1875–1949), the baritone Angelo Romero (born 1940), the

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

Bernadette Manca di Nissa Bernadette Manca di Nissa (born 27 September 1954) is an Italian operatic contralto who has sung leading roles in the principal opera houses of Italy as well as internationally. She has appeared at La Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, Teatr ...

, born 1954 and the soprano Giusy Devinu (1960–2007). The Italian pop singer

Marco Carta Marco Carta (born 21 May 1985 in Cagliari, Italy) is an Italian singer. To date, he has sold more than 245,000 albums and 60,000 singles. Biography and career Early life and victory to ''Amici'' Marco Carta was born in Cagliari, Sardinia, in ...

was also born in Cagliari, in 1985. The old Teatro Massimo was only recently renovated and is now the seat of the Teatro Stabile of Sardinia. The Municipal Auditorium, in the former 17th-century church of Santa Teresa, is the seat of the Scuola di Arte Drammatica (School of Dramatic Art) di Cagliari, while the Teatro delle Saline ("Saltworks Theatre"), is home of Akroama, Teatro Stabile di Innovazione ("Permanent Theater of Innovation"). Finally, some comic and satirical theater companies are active in the city, the most well known being the "Compagnia Teatrale Lapola", which offers an urban version of the traditional campidanese comic theater. Founded by Bepi Vigna,

Antonio Serra Antonio Serra was a late 16th-century Italian philosopher and economist in the mercantilist tradition. Biography Little is known about Serra's life. He was born in Cosenza in the late 16th century (the dates of his birth and death are unknownA ...

and Michele Medda, a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

school, the Centro Internazionale del Fumetto ("Comic Strip International Centre") has been active for several decades. Its founders invented and designed the comic characters Nathan Never and Legs Weaver.

Museums and galleries

The mother of the killed - Francesco Ciusa, Civic art Gallery

The Polo museale di Cagliari "Cittadella dei musei" (Citadel of Museums) is home to: *Museo archeologico nazionale di Cagliari ( National Archeological Museum of Cagliari), the most important archeological museum of Sardinia, which contains finds from the

period (6000 B.C.) to the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

about 1000 A.D. *Museo civico d'arte siamese Stefano Cardu (Civic Siamese Art Museum "Stefano Cardu") the most important European collection of Siamese art, gathered by a Cagliaritan collector at the beginning of the 20th century. *Museo delle cere anatomiche Clemente Susini (Anatomical Waxwork Museum "Clemente Susini"). This collection of anatomical waxworks is considered one of the finest in the world, and perfectly describes the human body, testifying to the state of medical and surgical knowledge at the beginning of the 19th century. The collection was created by the sculptor Clemente Susini and includes faithful reproductions of dissections of cadavers performed in the School of Anatomy in Florence 1803-1805 A.D. *Pinacoteca nazionale (National Picture Gallery) *Galleria comunale d'arte (Civic art Gallery) with an important exposition of modern Italian painting offered to the city by its collector (Ingrao Collection), and an exposition of Sardinian artists. *Collezione sarda Luigi Piloni (University Sardinian Collection "Luigi Piloni") *ExMà, MEM, Castello di San Michele, and Il Ghetto exposition centers *Museo di Bonaria (Basilical Church Museum of Bonaria), with an interesting ex-voto collection *Museo del Duomo (Cathedral Museum); *Museo del tesoro di Sant'Eulalia (Treasure Museum of Saint

Eulalia of Barcelona Eulalia (c. 290 – February 12, 303), co-patron saint of Barcelona, was a 13-year-old Roman Christian virgin who was martyred in Barcelona during the persecution of Christians in the reign of emperor Diocletian (although the Sequence of Saint ...

; with its important Roman era underground area. * Orto botanico di Cagliari (University Botanical Gardens)

Feast of Sant'Efis

The Feast of St. Ephysius (Sant'Efisio in Italian, Sant'Efis in Sardinian) is the most important religious event of Cagliari, taking place every year on 1 May. During this festival, thousands of people from folk groups all over Sardinia wear their traditional costumes. The saint is escorted by the traditional ancient ''Milicia'', the deputy mayor (Alter Nos), numerous confraternities, and a convoy of chariots pulled by oxen in a procession to Nora (near modern Pula), from Cagliari, where, according to tradition, he was beheaded. In addition to being one of the oldest, it is also the longest Italian religious procession, with about of walks over four days, and the largest in the Mediterranean area. A plague was spreading throughout Sardinia, starting in 1652, and the epidemic infected Cagliari in particular, killing some ten thousand inhabitants. According to legend, in 1656 St. Ephysius appeared to the Spanish Viceroy,

Francisco Fernández de Castro Andrade, Count of Lemos Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

to request a procession on 1 May, in order to free the city from the plague. The Municipality of Cagliari swore that, if the plague disappeared, a procession would be held every day in the saint's honor, starting from the Stampace district and ending at Nora where the saint was martyred. In September the plague ended, and the procession and festival was therefore regularly held starting the following year on 1 May. The procession was held even during the last war; a statue of the saint was placed on a lorry and, through city ruins of the devastated by the bombs, arrived safely in Nora.

Other events

Other feasts and events in Cagliari include: *The Carnival *Holy Week and Easter celebrations *Sea processions of St. Francis of Paola, held in May, and Nostra Signora di Bonaria, in July *Cagliari Fair, in early May * Audi MedCup regatta

Languages

The native language of Cagliari, declared official along with Italian, is Sardinian (''sardu''), a

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...

, specifically the Campidanese dialect (''campidanesu'') in its local variant (''casteddaju''). The variant of Cagliari in its high register has traditionally represented the linguistic model of reference for the entire southern area of the island, and the high social variant used by the middle class in the whole Campidanese domain, as well as the literary model of reference for writers and poets. This language is less spoken by the younger generations in the city, who use Italian instead as that language is compulsory in education and the mass media. Italian has increasingly become predominant in social relations, both formal and informal, relegating Sardinian to a mostly marginal role in everyday life. Young people often have only passive competence in the language, gathered from elderly relatives who still speak it, as their parents often speak only Italian, or they may use a slang ('' italianu porceddinu'') that mixes both Sardinian and Italian. Since Cagliari was the metropolis of the ancient Roman province, it absorbed innovations coming from Rome, Carthage, and Constantinople, and its language probably reflected late Latin urban dialects of the 5th-century core cities of the empire. Sea food Cagliari

Gastronomy

Cagliari has some unique gastronomic traditions: unlike the rest of the island its cuisine is mostly based on the wide variety of locally available seafood. Although it is possible to trace influences from

, Sicilian and Genoese cuisine, Cagliaritan food has a distinctive and unique character. Excellent

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

s are also part of Cagliaritanians' dinners, like the Cannonau,

Nuragus Nuragus (Latin: Valentia) is a small town, in administrative terms a ''comune'' (municipality), in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian autonomous region of Sardinia, located about north of the local capital Cagliari. Nuragus borders ...

, Nasco, Monica, Moscau,

Girò Girò is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown on Sardinia and is used mostly in the production of fortified wines in the Giro di Cagliari ''Denominazione di origine controllata'' (DOC). The grape was once widely planted throughout Sardin ...

and Malvasia, produced in the nearby vineyards of the Campidano plain.

Media

The main newspaper of Sardinia is ''

L'Unione Sarda ''L'Unione Sarda'' is an Italian regional daily newspaper for the island of Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, lab ...

'', it was founded in Cagliari in 1889. It was one of the first European newspapers to have its own website in 1994. It has a circulation of about 85,000 copies. The main regional headquarters of

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, the Italian state-owned radio and television network, is in Cagliari. There are also two regional television and radio companies as well as numerous information sites on the internet.

Sports

Cagliari is home to the football team

Cagliari Calcio Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. In the 2022-23 season, they compete in Serie B. As of 2021–22, the team is temporarily playing their home games at the 16,416-sea ...

, winner of the Italian league championship in 1970, when the team was led by

Gigi Riva Luigi "Gigi" Riva (; born 7 November 1944) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Riva enjoye ...

. Founded in 1920, the club played at the Stadio Sant'Elia in the city from 1970 until it was closed in the summer of 2017, causing the club to temporarily relocate to the provisional Sardegna Arena. Sant'Elia was the venue for three 1990 FIFA World Cup matches. Cagliari is an ideal location for water sports such as surfing,

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

due to strong and reliable favourable winds.

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

is also popular, with two teams in the Italian top division, G.S. Amsicora and C.U.S. Cagliari, the first of which won the league title more often than any other Italian team in the men's championship (20) and is also the protagonist in the women's division. Sport venues in Cagliari include: * Sardegna Arena *Tennis Club Cagliari *Rockfeller sports hall *Rockfeller skating rink *Via dello Sport gymnastics hall *Terra Maini Olympionic pool *Amsicora Stadium *Rari Nantes pool *Esperia pool *Riccardo Santoru athletics stadium *Civic pool *Acquasport pool *Poettu hippodrome *Mario Siddi fencing gymnasium *Mulinu Becciu tennis table hall *Facilities of the University Sports Center, C.U.S. Cagliari

Government

Cagliari is the hub of the administration offices of the Sardinia Autonomous Region and of Cagliari Province. It is also the home of several local offices of the Italian central administration. It is the seat of the Superintendency of Cultural and Environmental Heritage, of the Sardinia Archival Superintendency and of the Archeological Superintendency of the Cultural Heritage Ministry, of the Sardinia and Provincial seat of the Employment and Social Policies Ministry, of the regional offices of the Finance and Economy Ministry, and of some branch offices of the Health Ministry. Cagliari is home to all criminal, civil, administrative and accounting courts for Sardinia of the Ministry of Justice up to the High Court of Assizes of Appeal. It was home to a prison, Buon Cammino, built in the late 19th century, famous because no one has ever managed to escape. A new modern prison has been built in the nearby town of Uta. Traditionally, votes in Cagliari are oriented towards the center-right wing. Since World War II, all the mayors belonged to the Christian Democracy party with the exception of Salvatore Ferrara, from the Socialist Party, allied with the former. After the collapse of the traditional parties in the 1990s, the mayors belonged to the party or the coalition led by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

. The current economic and political crisis that affects Italy has prompted the electorate toward a large abstention and to elect a young mayor, Massimo Zedda, who belongs to a centre-left alliance. In the last municipal elections in June 2016, Massimo Zedda was confirmed in the first round with 50.86% of the votes.

Education

Cagliari is home to the

, the largest public university in Sardinia, founded in 1626. It currently includes six faculties: Engineering and Architecture, Medicine and Surgery, Economics, Juridical and Political Sciences, Basic Sciences, Biology and Pharmacy, Humanistic Studies. It is attended by about 35,000 students. All science faculties of the university, as well as the university hospital, have been transferred to a new "University Citadel", located in Monserrato. Cagliari's downtown houses the engineering and the humanities divisions and, in the Castle, the seat of the Rector, in an 18th-century palace with a library of thousands of ancient books. Cagliari is also the seat of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Sardinia and of the European Institute of Design.

Health care

Ospedale_San_Michele_-_scale_antincendio

Life expectancy in Cagliari is high: 79.5 years for men and 85.4 for women (provincial level). There has been a public hospital in Cagliari since the 17th century. The first modern structure was built in the middle of the 19th century, designed by the architect Gaetano Cima. This hospital is still operating, although all its departments will eventually be transferred to the new University Hospital in Monserrato. Among the other public hospitals, the

Giuseppe Brotzu Giuseppe Brotzu (Cagliari, 24 January 1895 – Cagliari, 8 April 1976) was an Italian pharmacologist and politician. Biography Giuseppe Brotzu was born in Ghilarza, a town of the Province of Oristano, Sardinia. He graduated from the Universit ...

(San Michele) Hospital was recognized in 1993 as a High Specialization Nationally Relevant Hospital, particularly for

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

pancreas The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e. it has both an en ...

and bone marrow transplants. Other public hospitals in the city include: the ''Santissima Trinità'' or commonly ''Is Mirrionis''; the ''Binaghi'', specialised in pulmonology; ''Marino'' specialised in

traumatology In medicine, traumatology (from Greek ''trauma'', meaning injury or wound) is the study of wounds and injuries caused by accidents or violence to a person, and the surgical therapy and repair of the damage. Traumatology is a branch of medicine. ...

hyperbaric medicine Hyperbaric medicine is medical treatment in which an ambient pressure greater than sea level atmospheric pressure is a necessary component. The treatment comprises hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), the medical use of oxygen at an ambient pressure ...

and

spinal cord injuries A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

; ''Businco'' specialised in

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

; and ''Microcitemico'', specialised in thalassemia,

Genetic diseases A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...

and

rare diseases A rare disease is any disease that affects a small percentage of the population. In some parts of the world, an orphan disease is a rare disease whose rarity means there is a lack of a market large enough to gain support and resources for discove ...

. There are in addition many private hospitals. Despite its dry climate, thanks to the regional system of dams, every inhabitant of Cagliari may have per day of safe drinking water. Waste sorting is still at a low level: only 33.4 percent of waste is separated.

Transport

Airport

The city is served by the Cagliari-Elmas International Airport, located a few kilometres from the centre of Cagliari. It is the 13th busiest aeroport in Italy by passengers traffic with around 4,370,000 passengers in 2018. A railway line connects the city to the airport; walkways join the railway station to the air terminal. The terminal is also connected to the city by highway SS 130 and by a bus service run by the ARST company to the central bus station in Matteotti square, in the centre of the city. There are other airports not too far from the city: Deciomannu Airport, a

military airport and three fields for air sports, Serdiana (used in particular for skydiving), Castiadas and Decimoputzu.

Roads

Cable-stayed bridge of the Monserrato University Campus interchange

The following national roads begin in Cagliari: * Strada Statale 131 Italia

Italian traffic signs - strada europea 25

''Carlo Felice'' to Sassari - Porto Torres (motorway-like until Oristano) and to Olbia (SS131 Central Nuorese Branch). * Strada Statale 130 Italia

''Iglesiente'', to Iglesias and Carbonia. * Strada Statale 125 Italia

''Orientale Sarda'', which connects Cagliari to Tortolì and Olbia, ending in

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

, across from Corsica. * Strada Statale 195 Italia

''Sulcitana'', connecting Cagliari with Sulcis along the coast. * Strada Statale 554 Italia

''Cagliaritana'' * Strada Statale 387 Italia

''del Gerrei'', to Ballao and Ogliastra. *''Provincial Road 17'' connects Poetto

Ports

The port of Cagliari is divided in two sector, the old port and the new international container terminal. The port system of Cagliari-Sarroch is the third for freight traffic in Italy with a movement of about 38 million tons in 2017. Cagliari has scheduled services by passenger ship to

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (; meaning "ancient town") is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located west-north-west of Rome. The harbour is formed by two pier ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and Palermo. In Cagliari there are also two other small touristic ports, ''Su Siccu'' (Lega Navale) and ''Marina Piccola''.

Railways

The

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

railway station in Cagliari has services to Iglesias, Carbonia,

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age ...

, Golfo Aranci, Sassari and

Porto Torres Porto Torres ( sdc, Posthudorra, sc, Portu Turre) is a comune and a city of the Province of Sassari in north-west of Sardinia, Italy. Founded during the 1st century BC as ''Colonia Iulia Turris Libisonis'', it was the first Roman colony of the ...

. The nearby commune of Monserrato is the terminal railway station of a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

line to

Arbatax Arbatax (; sc, Arbatassa) is the largest hamlet (''frazione'') of Tortolì, Sardinia, in Italy. With almost 5,000 inhabitants, it is also the third largest town in its province (Nuoro) by population, after Lanusei municipality (5,700) and Torto ...

and

Sorgono Sorgono ( sc, Sòrgono) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southwest of Nuoro. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,927 and an area of .A ...

Urban and suburban mobility

Bus and trolleybus services, managed by CTM (more than 30 lines) and ARST, connect internal destinations in the city and in the metropolitan area; Cagliari is one of the few Italian cities with an extensive trolleybus network, whose fleet has been partially renovated in 2012. A metro-like tram service on its own rail, MetroCagliari, operates between Piazza Repubblica and the new university campus near Monserrato (line 1) and from Monserrato San Gottardo and

Settimo San Pietro Settimo San Pietro, Sètimu in Sardinian language, is a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Cagliari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari. Settimo San Pietro borders the following municipalities ...

(line 2). A line between Piazza Repubblica and Piazza Matteotti, the city transport hub (with train, urban and extra-urban bus stations), is planned.

Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail tra ...

, the primary train operator in Italy, operates a metro train service between Cagliari Central Station and

, which connects the airport with the city center. A public bike-sharing service is operating with pick-up points at Via Sonnino - Palazzo Civico, Piazza Repubblica, Piazza Giovanni 23, and Marina Piccola.

Twin towns – sister cities

Cagliari is twinned with: *

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Nanyuki Nanyuki is a Market town in Laikipia County of Kenya lying northwest of Mount Kenya along the A2 road and at the terminus of the branch railway from Nairobi. The name is derived from Enyaanyukie Maasai word for resemblance. It is situated just ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

* Pisa, Italy *

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

, Italy *

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, Italy, 2002 *

Biella Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and ''comune'' in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of Turin a ...

, Italy, 2003

Consulates

In Cagliari there are at present (2018) the following consulates: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * . *

External links

*
Cagliari Tourist Board website
{{Authority control Populated places established in the 7th century BC Capitals of former nations Cities and towns in Sardinia Populated coastal places in Italy Mediterranean port cities and towns in Italy Phoenician colonies in Sardinia Roman towns and cities in Italy Wine regions of Italy