The rooms of the nobles


Vivanet Palace

The restoration works that lasted a few months did not trap it enough to conceal its beauty. The Vivanet building, now seat of the Student House, was built in 1893-95 under the commission of the brothers Antonio and Filippo Vivanet in a strategic zone, overlooking the train station.

Its sequence of arcades with pointed arches that breaks the expanse of bricks, besides to being the first example of Gothic Revival architecture in the city, was in compliance with the new directives on construction, which for Via Roma (street) foresaw the porticoed structure.

Town's Hall (Bacaredda Palace)

Its facade, white, is perhaps the first postcard that opens when berthing at Cagliari’s port. Its polygonal towers, placed on the top, welcome in a city that for centuries has embodied the power. Opened at the end of the XIX century on Via Roma (street), the Town's Hall (or Bacaredda Palace, named after the mayor who presided over the construction) is still the beating heart of the institutional town. From the architectural point of view, it is a successful mixture between the Catalan Gothic style and the art nouveau, imprinted on the front. It houses some of the most interesting works of prominent Sardinian artists; they adorn the council chamber, the former regional committee room, and the mayor’s office. During weekends, it becomes a place of festivity along with the celebration of civil weddings.

Accardo Palace

A few people can vaunt having the crypt of a saint in their building, the tenants of the Accardo palace, yes. Built between 1899 and 1901 by the engineer Dionigi Scano, the building occupies the corner of Largo Carlo Felice and Via Crispi (street) behind the City Hall and preserves the crypt of Sant’Augustine, as indicated by the lunette above the main entrance. A touch of history that enriches the beauty of the structure, characterized by a series of arches on the ground floor, connected in axis with the windows of the three overlying levels. It is of singular interest and particular value, the harmonious coexistence of different materials such as stone, concrete and brick.

Via Roma Palace (Palazzata)

Colours and palm trees will stretch in front of your eyes. This would be enough to leave your heart in Via Roma, and your look on its Palazzata. The succession of buildings with their porches was built in the last decades of the XIX century to replace the series of small housings on the ground floor. When demolished, businesses translocated on the street and new elegant buildings saw the light. The constructors took care of the smallest details. The industrialist Galeazzo Magnini gave the start with the two blocks at the corner of Via Roma and Via Baylle. They followed, the engineer Antonio Vivanet with its building and then, the brothers Garzia with their construction between Via Roma and Via Barcelona. Where was the door Gesus, has aroused first the Thorel house and then the first of the Zamberletti’s buildings.

Workers' of Mutual Aid Society

In late summer, it will turn 150 years: of work, of small and large business stories, dowels of Cagliari’s industriousness. That's why the Società degli Operai di Mutuo Soccorso (Workers' of Mutual Aid Society) of the City of Cagliari, has always had a prominent seat. Its first temporary headquarters, located in the council of the old Town Hall, was moved in 1912 in the two-storey building in Liberty style, very notable in the front door and in the railings that surround the staircase that leads upstairs, still occupied by rows of documents that testify the fervent activity of its members.

Lixi Palace

The Lixi Palace is named after the engineer that built it between 1932 and 1933, in an area, at the time, subject of a great economic expansion. It is characterized by the architectural use of colour, present both in the plinth and in the paintwork of the façade, which helps to define spaces and surfaces. The current and final appearance of the façade is merit of the sculptor Francesco Ciusa that refined them with a pink plaster similar to the Venetian plasters and mouldings bearing caravels and fountains of great elegance and finesse.

Palazzo Valdés

Prima che sui tetti di Villanova, dalle terrazze del bastione di Saint Remy è sul palazzo Valdés, che l’occhio si appunta. La residente, occupa infatti la prima porzione della pendenza compresa tra il viale Regina Elena, la piazza Marghinotti e la via Sulis. Il primo blocco, edificato tra il 1901 e il 1915 sul lato del Bastione di Saint Remy, alterna un basamento in granito e in pietra calcarea con una parte decorativa in terracotta.

L'ampliamento, risalente al 1926, si distingue per il fronte avvolgente fino al prospetto sulla piazza Marghinotti. L'esuberante decorazione è in graniglia di cemento colorato, che diventa più dimessa lungo la via Sulis, per l’impiego del cotto.

Boyl Palace

The three cannon balls are still stuck up there, remembering the stormy past of the Boyl building, but also the pride of an entire city and its determination in resisting to sieges. Another mute witness are the remains of the Torre dell’Aquilla or del Leone, incorporated into the building and remodelled during the Spanish assault in 1717 after having faced British bombing in 1708, and before the French attack of 1793. They are details that make it, built in 1840 by Carlo Pilo Boyl, Marquis of Putifigari, one of the noble buildings most representative of the Castello. It is today owned by Count Tomassini Barbarossa.

Viceroy's Palace

Leaning out or simply looking out of its large windows offers a panoramic view that gives the impression to embrace and to dominate Cagliari and the surrounding lowlands. This was one of the reasons why the Council Chamber of the Viceroy building was the centre of power during the Aragonese, Spanish and Savoy dominions. It is today used for conferences and cultural events of great importance.

To visit the spacious lounge enriched by Domenico Fruschi’s frescoes and Angeletti’s stuccoes, one has to walk the great stairway, worn out by the heel of who knows how many stylish shoes and the rustling of nobles clothing. The Piemontese engineers De Guibert and De Vincenti built it in 1730. Between 1799 and 1815, it was its last act as a royal residence with the permanence of the Savoy family, exiled from Turin.

Today it houses the Prefecture and the Province of Cagliari, who acquired it in 1885 and gave the start to a major renovation.

Opening hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 Closed on Mondays