Carbonia (; ) is a town and (municipality) in the
Province of South Sardinia
The province of South Sardinia (; ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia, Italy, instituted on 4 February 2016. It includes the suppressed provinces of Province of Carbonia-Iglesias, Carbonia-Iglesias and ...
,
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Along with
Iglesias it was a co-capital of the former
province of Carbonia-Iglesias
The province of Carbonia-Iglesias (; ) was a province in the autonomous region of Sardinia, Italy. It included the historical area of Sulcis-Iglesiente and it was the smallest province of Sardinia. It is bordered by the provinces of Cagliari and ...
, now suppressed. It is located in the south-west of the island, at about an hour by car or train from the regional capital,
Cagliari
Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
.
History
Carbonia was founded on the 18 December 1938 by the
Fascist regime
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
.
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
ordered the building of the city and was present at its inauguration. The city was built to provide housing for the workforce of the nearby mines. The name Carbonia comes from the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
word for
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
, abundant in the area.
Vitale Piga was appointed mayor of Carbonia and served in that capacity from September 28, 1939 to April 24, 1942. Piga authored a book on the coalfields of the
Sulcis
Sulcis (''Maurreddia'' or ''Meurreddia'' in Sardinian language) is a subregion of Sardinia, Italy, in the Province of South Sardinia.
Languages spoken include Italian, Sardinian ( Campidanesu) and Ligurian (Tabarchino).
Geographical extension ...
region titled ''Il giacimento carbonifero del Sulcis: Carbonia''.
The city has grown since its founding in 1938 due to immigration from elsewhere on the island and from
mainland Italy (in particular from the regions of
Veneto
Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...
,
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
,
Abruzzo
Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...
,
Marche
Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...
,
Basilicata
Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...
and
Campania
Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
),
reaching about 45,000 residents in 1951. Currently it has a population of over 28,000.
Since the closing of the mines in the 1970s, Carbonia has had a high unemployment rate. After the closure of the mines the town's economy was converted to the metallurgical industry. Today most Carbonians are employed in heavy industry, and in the tertiary sector.
Main sights
*
Monte Sirai
Monte Sirai is an archaeological site near Carbonia, Sardinia, Carbonia, in the province of South Sardinia, Sardinia, Italy. It is a settlement built at the top of a hill by the Phoenicians of Sulci (today's Sant'Antioco). The history of studies ...
, a hill in the surroundings of the city that hosts the ruins of a
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n-
Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( ) usually refers to the civilisation of ancient Carthage.
It may also refer to:
* Punic people, the Semitic-speaking people of Carthage
* Punic language
The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, i ...
built-up area
*
Domus de janas
Domus de Janas ( Sardinian for 'House of the Fairies' or, alternatively, 'House of Witches') are a type of pre-Nuragic rock-cut chamber tomb found in Sardinia. They consist of several chambers quarried out by the people of the San Ciriaco throug ...
in the surroundings of Sirri and Monte Crobu
*Romanesque church of Santa Maria di Flumentepido (11th century)
*Former
Serbariu coal mine, now turned into a museum and a site of industrial archaeology
Climate
Government
International relations
Carbonia is
twinned with:
*
Oberhausen
Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...
, Germany
*
Behren-lès-Forbach
Behren-lès-Forbach (, literally ''Behren near Forbach''; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Between 1812 and 1925, it was part of the commune of Kerbach.
Population
See also
* Communes of the Mose ...
, France, since 2005
*
Labin
Labin (Italian language, Italian/Istriot language, Istriot: Albona) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, with a town population of 5,806 (2021) and 10,424 in the greater municipality (which also includes the small towns of Rabac, Rabac-Porto Albona a ...
, Croatia, since 2010
*
Raša, Croatia, since 2010
Gallery
File:Razionalismo a Carbonia.jpg, Piazza Roma
File:Carbonia, piazza roma, san ponziano 06.jpg, Church of St. Pontian
File:Grande miniera di Serbariu 2.jpg, Serbariu mine
References
External links
Official website
1937 establishments in Italy
States and territories established in 1937
Populated places established in 1937
Planned communities in Italy
Italian fascist architecture
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