Preparing a visit to the medieval part of Cagliari: the quarter Castello

The students were given some historical information and the following reading activity with comprehension and study questions.

History of Cagliari from the Giudicato to the Aragonese rule
Reading activity

At the beginning of the twelfth century the Giudicato had already declared independence from mainland Byzantine rule. As its government seat Cagliari's Giudicato choose the zone of S.Igia, near the marsh of the same name.

Pisa, which had won control of the town at the beginning of the thirteenth century, transformed Cagliari, modelling the administrative and judicial systems after their own. The greatest change was the construction of a wall around the hill, isolating the Castello district from the rest of the city. Castello became the center of public offices and the dwelling place of Pisan citizens. The wall was the main defense for the bustling Pisan trade activity. The districts of Marina, Stampace, and Villanova were later surrounded by walls to better defend the port.

Pisan dominance was soon threatened by the temporal politics of Pope Boniface VIII, who granted Sardinia and Corsica to Giacomo II of Aragon in 1297. In response, Pisa reinforced Castello's walls by constructing two defensive towers: Torre di S. Pancrazio in 1305 and Torre dell'Elefante in 1307, designed by the Sardinian architect Giovanni Capula. Pisan concern was not unfounded. Aragon prepared to attack the city in 1323, positioning a fleet in the Gulf of Palmas as a starting point for their siege.

In 1324, the treaty stipulated between Pisa and Aragon put an end to Pisan rule in Sardinia and marked the beginning of Iberian domination. The new legislation privileged Catalans, Majorcans, and Aragonese, who were called to fill all public positions. Pietro IV of Aragon introduced a parliament modelled after Barcelona's, uniting representatives of three classes, the Stamenti: military (knights and nobles), ecclesiastic (bishops and high prelates), and royal (city representatives). However, the Stamenti had no real governing power.

As conflict grew between Aragon and Arborea, restrictions became ever more severe, banishing Sardinians from Castello. Nightly, beginning in 1328, a harsh trumpet blast announced the hated order for all Sardinians to leave the walled city.

A noteworthy aspect of the Catalan-Aragon period in Cagliari was the formation of trade guilds. Various neighbourhoods flourished. The Jewish community built its synagogue (now Chiesa di Santa Croce). The neighbourhoods of Stampace and Villanova were guided by their own mayors and councilmen.

Comprehension activity

Read the questions and underline in the text the parts that correspond to the answer

• When had the Giudicato of Cagliari gained independence from the Byzantine government?
• Where did the Pisans establish their zone?
• Why did the Pisans build a wall around the Castello?
• Who designed the Tower of St. Pancrace and the Tower of the Elephant?
• When did Cagliari surrender to the Aragon domination?
• What where the Stamenti?
• During the Aragonese domination where the Sardinians free to circulate in the Castello?
• Where did the Jewish community build its Synagogue?

Visiting Medieval Cagliari

The visit takes place the 26th May; meeting time at nine in front of Porta Cristina, Viale Buoncammino, with the students of III C Information Technology, the Italian and History teacher, the teacher of English, and the support teacher of Gianmarco, a student with special needs. Students are given a detailed map of the Castello and another with the four historical quarters of Cagliari: Castello, Stampace, Marina and Villanova. We start giving information about Castello in general, and remarks about the landscape over the Stagno di Santa Gilla and the Walls; then we start our tour giving information about the sights and their characteristics, and also listening to the students contributions.

The monuments observed were Porta Cristina, the former Sabaudian Arsenal in Piazza Arsenale, now Cittadella dei Musei (just the entrance), the Torre di San Pancrazio (a work of defence and a former prison) and Palazzo delle Seziate (where audiences were held to hear the convicts); the former Museo Archeologico in Piazza Indipendenza; the Chiesa of Santa Lucia in Via Pietro Martini, where two young girls of the elementary school Umberto and Margherita explained us the characteristics of the interior, we admired the landscape at Piazzetta Mundula with its terrace (taking also some group photographs). At the Palazzo Viceregio we decided to visit it and admire the frescos in the audience room; we also paid attention to some other rooms (not all were open) and to an interesting exposition on former mental hospital system in Sardinia - which we hadn't planned, but it was interesting to visit.

We noticed the Palazzo Arcivescovile, just next to the Palazzo Viceregio, and visited the Cathedral of Santa Maria, built by the Pisans in the 11th cent., whose facade dates back to the 1930s, in a fake Romanesque style next to the original Pisan bell tower. We also visited the interior, but the central altar was totally hidden by works of restauration. We went on Via Fossario, once a churchyard, a typically narrow and dark street, and we reached the Bastione di San Remy, where we took some pictures and admired the wide landscape. Just the time to take a coffee at a bar of the Bastione and we are soon in front of Palazzo Boyl and the open air Teatro Civico, once belonged to the baron Zapata, which we visit accompanied by a guide. Walking on Via Università, on the left we notice the former Seminario Tridentino, on the Bastione del Balice built by Saverio Belgrano, and next to it the Palazzo dell'Università.

The Torre dell'Elefante, the second Pisan tower built by Giovanni Capula, is at the end of the street. We reach the Bastione di Santa Croce, once a Jewish ghetto; on the left a great view on Stampace and the port; on the right we see the Chiesa di Santa Croce, a former Synagogue. We walk up Via Santa Croce passing by the improperly called Ghetto degli Ebrei, once a Sabaudian arsenal, and at about 12.30 we reach viale Buoncammino, from which we had started.

The following days we collected the best photos, printed them and used them as material to build up a poster, together with the detailed map of Castello and various historical information about the visited places. The Poster was realised by the students of V D Information Technology, with the contribution of the III C IT students, and finally exposed on the school walls.