The ancient walls

Walk for:

8 km

Difficulty:

medium

Elephant Tower

You cannot visit Cagliari, and omit to visit it. The Tower of the Elephant is a symbol of the city. Built in limestone blocks in 1307, designed by the architect Giovanni Capula, it protected the southwest side of the Castello. Developed on four levels, for a total height of 35 meters, it was also used as a powder keg, armoury and prison. It still represents one of the most picturesque sites of the city; also for the presence on the façade of a marble elephant -perhaps a symbol of maritime power of Pisa. - It has become the mascot of our app Hi Cagliari.

Phone number: 070.409.2306 / 070.667.0168

Fax number: 070.685.1832

E-mail: orientare@orientare.it

Website: www.beniculturalicagliari.it

This element belongs to the categories: Monuments, Historical Defensive Presidios, Towers

Opening hours:

Winter: Mon-Sun 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Summer (from Monday, May 11th, 2015): Mon-Sun 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Admission fees:

Adult: € 3,00;

Youth and groups over 15 people: € 2.00

School groups: € 1.00

Bastion of Balice

Maybe neither the young generations of Cagliari knows about its existence. The Bastion of Balice is out of the visitors’ sight because it is incorporated into the university building on via dell’Università (street) in the Castello neighbourhood. It was designed by Rocco Cap and thanks to its strategic location near the Tower of the Elephant it was intended to deal with the enemy attacks coming from the sea.

It does not have a separate entrance. Therefore to visit it, you must access the rectorate, cross it, reach the backyard that lies right on the bastion, and imagine the men-at-arms, ready to repel the threats arrived by sea.

Lion Tower

Two names for a tower. The Torre del Leone (Tower of the Lion), built at the beginning of 1300, seems to have been incorporated to the Boyl palace after being partially destroyed in 1708 by a British bombing, in 1717 by the Spanish cannons, and finally in 1793 by the French attack during which it lost its upper part.

The same tower is also known as the Torre dell’Aquila (Tower of the Eagle), due to this bird of prey sculpture carved in the door that allowed the entry inside the walls.

Umberto I viewpoint

Early in the morning, it is a bustle of backpacks and smocks. The terrace of Umberto I, one of the places offering the largest panoramic view of the Castello neighbourhood, constitutes the northernmost part of the Bastion of Saint Remy and of the square facing the elementary school. Easily accessible via the panoramic lift of the Viale Regina Elena (boulevard), it was devoted to defensive function since the Middle Ages, when it was supplemented by a curtain wall with two towers. In the XVI century they have built a bastion, known under various names including the Terraple de la Fontana Bona due to the presence of a fountain later also called "di Santa Caterina". The construction of the church with the same name has then followed with an adjoining monastery (XVII century).

Saint Remy Bastion

Its candid, harmless and majestic appearance hides a combative past; the Bastion of Saint-Remy, named after the first Viceroy of Piedmont, is built on the remains of the fortified walls of the medieval city, still visible in some places.

The covered promenade and the panoramic terrace Umberto I, the heart of the lively summer in Cagliari, were designed in 1896 by Giuseppe Costa and Fulgenzio Setti and were inaugurated in 1901. It still dominates the Piazza Costituzione (square), with its arches and its double-flight steps. It was severely damaged during the WWII but faithfully was reconstructed shortly after.

It is currently closed for restructuration.

Lion Gate

One usually passes through in a hurry; however, during the guided tours, also intended for citizens, a stop at the two Lions door is a must do. Located under the Bastion of the Sperone, where it was set in 1535, it acts as a hinge between the historic neighbourhoods of Castello and Marina. It owes its name to the two lion head sculptures, visible on the top of the door.

Ancient Walls

Arm yourself with patience; sharpen your sight, unhinged the appearance. Under buildings, billboards, capers waterfalls, you will discover – piece-by-piece - the walls of Cagliari, around the entire perimeter of the historic neighbourhood of Castello and including the two towers of San Pancrazio and of Elephant. The city wall and its fortifications were built under the Viceroyalty of Dusay (1491 to 1508). Largely reworked, they are however visible in many portions even inset in buildings of the following period. The city walls extend from the Bastion of Saint Remy, along the Embankment, to Piazza Martiri (square), on the opposite side.

S'Avanzada Climb

S'Avanzada is a soft climb with a panoramic view. From the Public Gardens, it leads to the entrance of the Castello’s fortress. It was originally secured by a high portal, which has then been demolished to make way for an open space that flows into the door of San Pancrazio, below the tower of the same name. From its balustrade you can admire the roofs of Villanova, Monte Urpinu and Campidano on one side and on the other, the Sella del Diavolo (Devil's Saddle), the Basilica of Bonaria and the Golfo degli Angeli (Angels’ Bay).

Saint Pancrazio Tower

Higher is impossible when it comes to the Torre di San Pancrazio (tower), with its 36 meters, breaking into the sky of Castello. Designed in 1305 by the architect Giovanni Capula, it is the highest of Cagliari. As its twin tower, the Torre dell’Elefante (tower of the elephant), it is made of Pietra Forte, a white limestone extracted from the Bonaria hill. Inside the three walls of three meters thick, are present various thin slits. The fourth side, opened, like most of the towers of Pisa, is directed towards the interior of the Castello, and exhibits galleries on the four floors of the tower. After its use as a defensive bastion, he had several functions, until the return to its original form implemented in 1906 by Dionigi Scano.

Sperone Tower

The tower of the Sperone, of Alberti or of San Michele, is the only witness of the city walls, built by Pisans in the XIII century, to defend the historic neighbourhood of Stampace. The building, crossed at the base by a portico, was built in March 1293, as reported by an epigraph placed on the façade of the tower that overlooks via Portoscalas (street).

Quadrangular and built in limestone, it is adorned with some rectangular windows and a sort of blind loggietta, made up of four round arches, the same shape found in the arch of the porch below.