Thursday, April 26, 2018, Cagliari, Sardinia

(Our port call to Tunis was omitted due to US State Department warnings. So we sailed from Malta directly to Cagliari, Sardinia after spending an additional half day at Malta.)

Marvel at the limestone-carved capital of Cagliari—whose buildings gleam in the Sardinian sun, inspiring D.H. Lawrence to call it the “white Jerusalem”—and explore Sardinia’s expansive farmland lined with vineyards and olive groves.

About one-fifth of Sardinia’s land is used for agriculture, earning it a reputation as Italy’s other farmland. Tomatoes, artichokes, citrus fruits, and olives are some of its primary crops. And because Sardinia can’t call itself Italian without producing wine, lush vineyards blanket its hillsides. Cork oak trees are prevalent too, convenient for bottling wine and olive oil. The island has also long been a Mediterranean crossroads, with many civilizations making their mark. Their remains dot the landscape, particularly in Cagliari, the capital carved from limestone. Here, the Castello District is home to a Roman amphitheater and the subterranean Cathedral of St. Mary, a Pisan relic. Cagliari gleams in the Sardinian sun, inspiring D.H. Lawrence to call it the “white Jerusalem.”

Panoramic Cagliari

We enjoyed a walking tour of this charming Sardinian city set on the lovely Golfo degli Angeli, or Gulf of Angels. Several empires left their mark at this Mediterranean crossroads, and we saw evidence of their thriving cultures. We joined our guide for a scenic drive past the city’s coastal lagoons that host a variety of birdlife. In Cagliari’s Castello District, or Old Town, we saw the magnificent Roman amphitheater carved into the bedrock; it is still a performance space today. We passed the imposing 14th-century Elephant Tower, named for the sculpted elephant by its gate, and the Tower of St. Pancras, both remnants of the Pisano period. These two towers once comprised the cityʹs fortifications, along with ramparts from the Aragonese and Spanish periods. At the 13th-century Cathedral of Santa Maria del Castello, we explored beautiful small chapels in the subterranean sanctuary. We had free time in town to explore on our own.

What a surprise to be docked next to a long distance ferry.

Cagliari is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Castedduliterally means castle. It has about 150,000 inhabitants, while its metropolitan city (including Cagliari and 16 other nearby municipalities) has more than 431,000 inhabitants. According to Eurostat, the population of the Functional urban area, the commuting zone of Cagliari, rises to 476,974. Cagliari is the 26th largest city in Italy and the largest city on the island of Sardinia. There are about 160,000 live in Cagliari but a half million with suburbs (three million on Sardinia). There is 35% unemployment of young people (under 30 years old).

An ancient city with a long history, Cagliari has seen the rule of several civilizations. Under the buildings of the modern city there is a continuous stratification attesting to human settlement over the course of some five thousand years, from the Neolithic to today. Historical sites include the prehistoric Domus de Janas, very damaged by cave activity, a large Carthaginian era necropolis, a Roman era amphitheatre, a Byzantine basilica, three Pisan-era towers, and a strong system of fortification that made the town the core of Spanish Habsburg imperial power in the western Mediterranean Sea. Its natural resources have always been its sheltered harbor, the often powerfully fortified hill of Castel di Castro, the modern Casteddu, the salt from its lagoons, and, from the hinterland, wheat from the Campidano plain and silver and other ores from the Iglesiente mines.

Cagliari was the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1324 to 1848, when Turin became the formal capital of the kingdom (which in 1861 became the Kingdom of Italy). Today the city is a regional cultural, educational, political, and artistic center, known for its diverse Art Nouveau architecture and several monuments. It is also Sardinia's economic and industrial hub, having one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean Sea, an international airport, and the 106th highest income level in Italy (among 8,092 comunities), comparable to that of several northern Italian cities. It is also the seat of the University of Cagliari, founded in 1607, and of the Primate Roman Catholic archdiocese of Sardinia, since the 5th century AD.

Basilica and sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria.

White sand stone exterior.

Expensive housing area.

Sun was not out yet; flowers will face up when the sun shines.

Views from high on a windy hill. Ponds for harvesting salt; not used since 1985. No longer used due to invasion of shrimp, now flamingo food. They still harvest salt in the area but in a different bay.