Description of the attraction
Bastion of San Remi is one of the most important fortifications in the city of Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. The bastion is located in the Castello quarter, which is considered the historical center of the city. The name of this tourist attraction comes from the name of Baron San Remy, the first Viceroy of Piedmont.
The bastion was built at the end of the 19th century on the ancient city walls of Cagliari, which were built at the beginning of the 14th century. These walls were used to connect the southern bastions of Zekca, Santa Caterina and Sperone, which united the Castello quarter with the Villanova and Marina quarters.
In 1896, the engineer Giuseppe Costa and Fulgenzio Setti designed the Passagiata Coperta (Covered Walkway) and La Terrazza Umberto I (Terrace), the latter being built on the site of the old bastion of Sperone. The entire structure is in a classic style with Corinthian columns and built of white and yellow limestone. The grand opening took place in 1901.
The staircase with two flights, which starts in Piazza della Costituzione, is interrupted at Passeggiata Coperta and ends under the Arc de Triomphe on the Terrace of Umberto I. In 1943, the staircase and arch were seriously damaged during an air raid on Cagliari, but were restored after the Second World War …
From the Terrace of Umberto I you can get to the Bastion of Santa Caterina, on the site of which a Dominican monastery once stood, destroyed in a fire in 1800. They say that within the walls of this gloomy monastery in 1668, the assassination of the Spanish Viceroy Camarassa was being prepared - the loudest bloody event of those years.
Passejata Coperta has been used for various purposes since its discovery in 1902. Initially, it served as a banquet hall, then, during the First World War, it housed a first-aid post, and during the Second World War, those whose houses were destroyed during the bombing of the city found shelter in the Covered Passage. After many years of desolation, the Passeigiata Coperta has been restored and turned into a cultural venue for art exhibitions.
