Description of the attraction
The Castello Quarter is a historic area of Cagliari, full of cultural and architectural monuments and extremely popular with tourists. Once on its territory there was a fortified castle, and today part of the quarter is still surrounded by powerful walls with bastions. The entrance to the quarter is the gate of two medieval white limestone towers, which, by a lucky coincidence, were not destroyed in the 19th century - Torre di San Pancrazio and Torre del Elefante.
It is best to start your acquaintance with the Castello area from the Torre di San Pancrazio tower or from the Porta dei Leoni gate. The area's main attractions include numerous old churches such as the Cathedral or the 16th century Purissim Church on Via Lamarmor. At the bottom of Castello are the churches of Santa Maria del Sacro Monte di Pieta, Santa Croce and San Giuseppe. Some churches are closed for restoration and are only accessible from the outside.
In the past, Castello was the political, religious and administrative center of Cagliari. It is here that many notable buildings are located - the former City Hall (not far from the Cathedral), Palazzo Vescovile and the Viceroy's Palace. A little further is the Arsenal, now converted into Cittadella dei Museums - the City of Museums, and even further is the Palazzo Belgrano, which today houses the University of Cagliari. Many private residential buildings in this part of the city have retained their historical appearance and aristocratic decoration.
There are also some interesting museums in Castello. The aforementioned Cittadella dei Museums consists of four separate collections, which can be viewed by walking through the door - an exact copy of the Roman gate of Porta del Popolo. One of the most important collections of Cittadela is kept in the National Archaeological Museum, which displays artifacts from the most diverse civilizations inhabiting Sardinia - ceramics, bronze figurines, donuragic figurines, copper ingots, carvings, steles and wonderful jewelry of the Carthaginian period. The National Art Gallery has a collection of modern art, sculptures, paintings, statues, etc. And the Siam Kardu Museum can offer tourists about 1,300 items brought from Siam, Laos, Java, Malacca, Singapore and China - coins, ivory, silver jewelry, pottery, weapons. Finally, it is worth visiting the Anatomical Wax Museum, which displays 23 human body parts made by the Florentine Clemente Susini. And from one of the galleries of Cittadella dei Museums, a wonderful view of Cagliari opens.
