Day trip to Cagliari
Our time here is short so we needed to at least see Cagliari and a few of the ancient sites. We passed through here rather quickly once off the ferry so a nice cruise back to town is perfect. Cagliari is the capitol of Sardinia with roughly 155,000 residents. It is the 26th largest city in Italy, and the largest city on Sardinia. Cagliari has been home to many civilizations over the past 5,000 years. Underneath today’s city lie the remains of Neolithic and prehistoric settlements; a Carthaginian necropolis; a Roman amphitheater, and other ruins covered by modern buildings and streets. From 1324 to 1848, Cagliari served as the capitol of the Kingdom of Sardinia, when Turin took over as the capitol. The kingdom later became the Kingdom of Italy.
During WW2, that mess the Nazi’s started, Italy was originally on the side of the Axis. That meant that Sardinia, an Italian province, was prime target area. Up to 1944, Sardinia was bombed frequently by the Allies. The main targets were the harbor in Cagliari, and the airfields. Unfortunately, the Allies were not always accurate with their bombing raids. When it was all said and done, 1,000+ civilians, and 380+ soldiers were killed. Almost all of ancient buildings in Old Town were damaged so there is much restoration.
Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari is built on seven hills, one of these will be our first stop today, Castello di San Michele. Located on a hill of the same name, the castle began life as an ancient Roman temple to the god Aesculapius. Later, in the Byzantine era, the temple was replaced with church and monastery in honor of Saint Michael, the protector of medicine. The original single tower has gone through numerous reinforcements and alterations. In the 13th century, two additional towers were added. During the Aragonese period, 14th century, an additional tower was added by Berengario Carroz, long arm of the emperor Alfonso. Over many years, Berengario transformed the site into a proper fortress and his private residence.
After Carroz, the castle was abandoned until the 17th century when it was used as a hospital during the “plague of Saint Efisio”. (1652-1656) Once again abandoned, the castle didn’t resume military life until the Napoleonic Wars and was armed with cannons to defend the city from invasion. From 1929 to 1972, the castle functioned as a radio station for the Navy. Not until the end of the 20th century were modifications made for the castle to become a museum and cultural center.
With all this history, we couldn’t wait to get there. Only problem was, the museum and castle center are closed on Monday. Couldn’t go inside but the views were excellent. Maybe next time.
Castello di San Michele
After the let down of the castle, we drove back into Old Town to check out a couple more sites, Torre dell ‘Elefante (Elephant tower), and yes, another church, Cathedral of Cagliari (also known as the Cathedral of Santa Maria di Castello). We looked these up before heading down the hill and saw that the tower was closed until 3pm, it was 10am so scratch the tower. The cathedral was open so that’s our destination.
If you’ve read any of our travels, you know that from time to time we end up driving on an unexpected pedestrian walkway, on occasion. Today was one of those days. We entered Old Town according to Google maps and found ourselves almost stuck in a narrow alleyway. There were other cars in the area so not everything was a pedestrian only walkway, just where we were. Not a problem. People will move out of your way, look at you funny, then go about their business. We just wave and keep driving until we intersect a road and things work out.
Couldn’t have worked out better. We found a free parking lot just outside Old Town. Parked the ride and hoofed it back into the city and the cathedral. We knew exactly how to find it since we were only a few feet from the steps earlier while driving.
Built in 1255 in Gothic-Romanesque style, the cathedral was first dedicated to the patron saint, Saint Cecilia. (Just a quick note about Saint Cecilia. According to documents I found, Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of music and musicians. She lived sometime in either the 2nd or 3rd century, and dedicated her virginity to God. She died by suicide, throwing herself out the second story window onto a fence post where she was impaled and died immediately.) The cathedral was later assigned to Saint Maria for unknown reasons but one could guess…
The church is 115’ long, 112’ wide, and 105’ tall. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the church was expanded to its current size. The facade is marble and dates back to 1704. This was removed at some point to see if there was a medieval facade under it. There wasn’t so the marble was replaced in 1931.
Cathedral of Cagliari
The nave
Ceiling painting
Crypt of the Martyrs
The church has ancient relics inside, one of which is said to be a thorn from the crown of Jesus. The thorn was part of a cache of stolen relics from the sacking of Rome in 1527. Almost lost at sea due to a terrible storm, the stolen relics were given to the archbishop of Cagliari when the ship reached land. The thorn is displayed each year during the feast of the Assumption.
All this driving and walking worked up an appetite, time for lunch then head back to the apartment, pack up our things and get ready to drive to our next adventure location, Santa Teresa di Gallura. This is where we will catch the ferry to Corsica in two days. Oh, and as for the “Elephant tower”, we walked past it, 6 levels with open stairways. Not sure we would have paid to do this.
Elephant tower