Faith and green at Villanova

Expected time (h:m):

2:00

Walk for:

4 km

Difficulty:

easy

If the Impressionists could come back to life, you would see them among the narrow streets of Villanova. Easel, stool, thoughtful looks would evoke the magic of a neighbourhood where time has stopped. Where the buildings do not exist, but everything flows between small houses of two or three floors with pastel façades freshly painted, tiled roofs and small balconies, all jewels hidden to the passers-by’s eyes. The flowered balconies, where once they would have played music on Sundays, have now become mute boxes from where to witness the sorrowful and evocative Lenten processions. Among the white robes, the cowls, the churches and the convents, it is a neighbourhood to discover, to get lost in and to savour; finally bring back a little piece of it in your heart.

Costituzione Square

It is always welcome to have a little pause and to sit for a while. The Piazza Constituzione (square) with the Bastion of Saint Remy in the background, with its candour and its grandeur, is perfect to rest. With its historic coffee shops and mansions, it is the connection point between the historic districts of Marina, Villanova and Castello.

Shops:

- Intrecci (V.le Regina Margherita, 63): crafts

Terrapieno Boulevard

It feels like the first time every time. Forget about the museums, the brochures and the shop windows. Reassure your legs: undertaken slowly, savoured as it should, the slope of the Terrapieno (Embankment) will refresh you and your spirit. The boulevard, hinge between the historic neighbourhoods of Villanova and Castello, knows how to thrill. The architect Ubaldo Badas redesigned it in the thirties making sure to punctuate it with rows of trees and hedges of the Mediterranean macchia. Anything but monotonous. Here are the modern forms of the Garden under the walls. The flawless façades of the small houses Caria, Olivieri, Manca di Nissa, Schinardi, Macciò, built between 1922 and 1928. The spurs of the fortifications of the Castello show themselves imposing in the background. It seems to go back in time and to see them, the Cagliaritani ladies in their cool outfits, walking under their parasol, then turning eastward and remaining amazed, like us, in front of the expanse of small tiled roofs and garden terraces. The walk offers a panorama of sea, sun and nature, and a view on the city and the distant countries.

Sulis Street

Listening to the notes of a black baby grand piano while drinking a glass of chilled Vermentino, among the recently painted façades and the chic boutiques, that is what expects you when you take the vico Sulis (alley); it is magical. In the space of few years, this small street nestled between the Terrapieno (Embankment) and Piazza San Giacomo (square), parallel to the bustling Via Garibaldi (street), has been revolutionized by the courage of the entrepreneurs of Cagliari. The buildings have been renovated to respect the original guise. The Medieval insides host luxury collections, libraries and art galleries as the studio of the painter Bob Marongiu who paints in front of workshop. They are all worth a walk by with a stop at the bistro and a fine purchase.

Shops:

- Donne Concept Store (Via Sulis, 30): haute couture

Oratories

Prayers rattled off in a whisper; the patient waiting, once more, for the Passion of Christ to be fulfilled and become light. The faith of Cagliaritani opens and renews in the oratories of Piazza San Giacomo (square): in the silence of the Oratorio delle Anime del Purgatorio (Oratory of the Souls in Purgatory), built between 1699 and 1709, seat of the Confraternity of the Blessed Souls in Purgatory; immersed of suffering in front of the sight of the Dead Christ, lying in the Oratorio di SS. Crocifisso (Oratory of the Most Holy Crucifix). A gift of faith, bestowed by the lady Petronilla Murgia on her deathbed, in 1818. Her soul travels, satisfied, between the cool walls of the fresh structure erected, following her will by the confreres of the Most Holy Crucifix, where once was the cemetery. Arch-seat of the Most Holy Crucifix, active in the organization of the rites of the Holy Week, its interior contains "Is Misterius", seven eighteenth-century wooden statues sculpted by Giuseppe Antonio Lonis, which are carried during the Friday of Passion procession.

A Urban Garden: Piccioni Street

The urban garden of Via Piccioni (street) is a dip in the green neighbourhood of Villanova. Among the narrow streets of Via San Giovanni (street) opens wide, impressive, the apse of the Cathedral, located up in Castello. Towards Piazza San Domenico (square), rows of scented sheets ventilate the soft coloured façades. Put your cell phone in your pocket, get lost among the narrow streets of the historic district, between the waterfalls of clinging plants cured by the residents for the historic contest of Balcone Fiorito (Flowered Balcony) and the goodness of the small shops. Walk calmly, remembering that, every corner and cross street, is a postcard for the soul.

San Giovanni Street

Close your eyes and reopen them in black and white. In front of you, will open Via San Giovanni (street), a timeless street, and the heart of Villanova. A myriad of low houses, bricked roofs and balconies in Art Nouveau style, have to be explored inch by inch. Do not only follow the straight street but also undertake one of the fourteen alleys that connect it to the subjacent Via dei Piccioni (street) and to the superjacent Giardini and San Saturno streets. Today they have lost the names kept up to the 800s (dell’Amicizia (of the Friendship), Bello (Handsome), dei Colombi (of the Doves), dei Fiori (of the Flowers), delle Fontane (of the Fountains), dei Fratelli (of the Brothers), di Mezzo (Middle), dei Molini (of the Mills), della Rosa (of the Rose), della Scala (of the Stairs), Vecchio (Old)). However they conserve intact the stairs eaten by the time, the voices coming out of the apartments, the laundry hanging under the sun and the unexpected views over Castello.

St. Dominic Crypt

Ancient chants of monks still seem to echo. The slow steps in sandals still walk the corridors of the shaded cloister of St. Dominic, between vaults and candid arches. It is the kingdom of silence, reflection, carefree innocent children chasing each other between the well and the big trees in the central garden. In the back of the structure, sober celebrations respect the peace of the place, which has kept the soul of a time, the intimate spirit of a devoted neighbourhood.

In the west wing, the gaze lingers over the seven chapels dating back to the XV century, including the crypt of St. Dominic, characterized by ribbed vaults and pendulous gem. The colonnade with severe lines is muffled by decorated capitals with phytomorphic reliefs and animal figures.

Riva Primary School

Throngs of students have struggled over its bench, played in the courtyard and enjoyed pizzas by the slice in the near square. It is the core of many memories; the elementary school Alberto Riva Villasanta, in Piazza Garibaldi (square), was completed in 1930 after nearly two decades of work. It was dedicated to the young fellow fallen shortly before the end of the WWI. Its appearance meets the requirements of the scholastic construction of the time, which used to alternate neoclassical elements with local materials, in a play of volumes and harmonious colours. The central block is accessible by a large staircase on the bustling Piazza Garibaldi (square). The area behind and its daily life, perched on the Villanova hills, are seizable from the sides.

Garibaldi Street

The shopping marathon has its beating heart here. It is hard to resist the temptation to update the wardrobe among the pastel coloured buildings, heritage from the historic neighbourhood of Villanova located behind Via Garibaldi (street). Between clothing, leather goods, footwear, and even more, there is something to suit every taste. Even the look will be satisfied, once it will leave the shop windows to wedge in the alleys, to roam on the distant park of Monte Urpinu and the Legion of Carabinieri and to pry upward between balconies and terraces.

Shops:

- Il Nido Gold (Via Garibaldi, 207): Children's clothing

- Lovable (Via Garibaldi, 10): underwear