Explore this university city’s stately palazzi and charming piazzas before delving into its medieval history in one of the many heritage churches and museums.
Sassari is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains a considerable collection of art.
Sassari is a city rich in art, culture and history, and is well known for its palazzi, the Fountain of the Rosello, and its elegant neoclassical architecture, such as Piazza d’Italia (Italy Square) and the Teatro Civico (Civic Theatre).
Higlights
As Sardinia’s second most populated city, and the fifth largest municipality in Italy (547 km2), it has a considerable amount of cultural, touristic, commercial and political importance in the island.
The city’s economy mainly relies on tourism and services, however also partially on research, construction, pharmaceuticals and the petroleum industry.
Sassari is located in north-western Sardinia, at 225 metres (738 ft) above sea level. The area rises up on a wide karstic plateau that slopes gently down towards the Gulf of Asinara and the Nurra plain. The city is surrounded by a green belt of thousands of hectares of olive plantations, which from the 19th century have partly replaced the mixed woodlands of oak and other Mediterranean trees as well as the maquis shrubland.
Festivals and traditions
- The Faradda di li candareri (The Descent of the Candelieri): it’s a devotional procession, in which enormous wooden candles are carried by members of the city guilds from the town centre to the church of Santa Maria of Betlem, in commemoration of the end of the plague in 1582, but it probably has older origins, from a cultural tradition from Pisa that as early as in the second half of the 13th century was practiced in some parts of Sardinia.
- The Cavalcata Sarda (the Sardinian Cavalcade), a main event in Sardinia. On the last Sunday of May thousands of people come from all over Sardinia to Sassari to parade through the city in their local folk costumes on foot and ride on hundreds of the best Sardinian horses.
- Sardinia Film Festival was founded in 2006. With 500 films, short subjects, animated cartoons and documentaries in 2009, it has become the most prominent film festival in Sardinia.
Main sights
- Archeological site of Monte d’Accoddi: a unique prehistoric monument with a step pyramid construction
- The Pisan City Walls that in the 13th century surrounded the city with 36 towers (at the moment only 6 remain), and the Catalan-Aragonese Castle named Castello di Sassari, demolished in 1877, whose ruins, including some rooms, the basement, and part of a tower were rediscovered in 2008.
- The church of St. Peter in Silki, built in the 12th century but renovated in the 17th century. Here were found the medieval codes known as Condaghe di san Pietro in Silki.
- Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the main street of the medieval town, surrounded by interesting buildings of different ages, such as several examples of Catalan-gothic (as the so-called House of Re Enzo), the baroque church of Sant’ Andrea, built by Corsican community, the neoclassic Civic Theatre and Quesada’s palace.
- The Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Bari, built in the 13th century and enlarged in Catalan Gothic style from 1480; there is a monument to the Duca di Moriana inside.
- The church and monastery of Santa Maria di Bètlem (13th–19th century).
- The Church of the Most Blessed Trinity contains a beautiful picture by an unknown artist of the Quattrocento.
- The Cimitero Comunale di Sassari (Sassari Cemetery) opened in 1837 adjacent to the Chiesa San Paolo al Cimitero just west of the main railway station
- Palazzo D’Usini, most important example of civilian architecture of the Renaissance period in Sardinia
- The Fountain of the Rosello, built in 1606 by Genoese craftsmen. It is made by two squared parts surmounted by two crossing arches supporting the statue of St. Gavino.
- University Palace (17th–20th century), originally a Jesuit school.
- The Ducal Palace (current Town Hall, 1775–1806), built for the Duke of the Asinara in the 18th century.
- Piazza d’Italia (19th century) is the main square in Sassari. It is surrounded by interesting buildings such as the Neo-Gothic “Palazzo Giordano” and the neoclassical “Palace of Sassari’s Province”, where the ancient royal apartments of the House of Savoy were once located.
- Teatro Verdi, opera house and theater for concerts and plays