The Castello district and Bastione di Saint Remy
The upper district and the terrace over the gulf
Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, rises on a series of limestone hills between the sea and the lagoons. Its oldest and most fascinating district is Castello, "Casteddu" in Sardinian, the fortified upper town built by the Pisans in the thirteenth century on the highest hill and later expanded by the Aragonese and Spanish. It is enclosed by mighty walls and two white limestone towers, the Torre di San Pancrazio and the Torre dell'Elefante, named after a small marble elephant on its façade.
Inside the walls, narrow lanes, aristocratic palaces and churches lead to the Cathedral of Santa Maria, with a neo-Romanesque façade and a baroque interior, which preserves the Pisan pulpit by Guglielmo, originally made for the Duomo of Pisa, and the Palazzo Regio, the former residence of the viceroys and Savoy kings. The most spectacular point is the Bastione di Saint Remy, a monumental neoclassical terrace built at the end of the nineteenth century on the old Spanish bastions, with a great staircase and an arch, and a panoramic terrace, the Terrazza Umberto I, with a breathtaking view over the city, the port, the gulf of the "Angels" and the lagoon of Molentargius. At the northern end of Castello, the Cittadella dei Musei houses the National Archaeological Museum.
Tip: public lifts connect the lower districts with Castello; the bastion is the best place for sunset, with bars and kiosks.
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