Càgliari Things to Do

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The new town hall (Municipio) of Cagliari was built at the end of the 19th century in the neogothic and Catalan style. It covers an area of 2400 square meters! Most prominent are the two towers. Through the large archway you can go inside and look at the statues of various kings (Vittorio Amedeo II, the first king of Sardinia and Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy).

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Not far from Poetto Beach you will find Molentargius lagoon - and almost 200 different species of birds!! Most prominent of all are the pink flamingos, but there are also other birds to be found, about 50 of them of endangered species.

The lagoon is partly a salt lake (from ancient times on) and part of it is now a nature reserve.

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Cagliari is not all culture and architecture, it also has an 11 km strech of beautiful white sandy beach, called Poetto Beach. We were there in February, so it was too cold to go for a swim, but a wonderful walk on the beach was just as nice! We did see a guy who went fishing there, so this might be another idea, but for us a walk was just fine!

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Lions' Gate used to be the only connection between the Castello quarter and the Marina quarter. Back then it was merely called "Castle Gate". The new name derives from the two marble lioness' heads on the Marina side of the gate.

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Bastione San Remy is a terrace with a spectacular view that has been built on top of the old Piemontese bastion in 1901. Here you can do people watching and enjoy the view of the port of Cagliari to the one side, the Cathedral and the classicistic buildings around the square.

The huge square on the bastion is called Plaza Umberto I, the little square a little further up is called Plaza Santa Caterina.

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The Castello District is one of the oldest parts of Cagliari. It is on the very top of the city and has various highlights which I will describe in the following tips. Here you can find the old fortification built by the Pisans in the 13th centuries, impressive towers, the cathedral, small alleys and cobble stones, bastions with great views of the city, great museums, lots of churches and much more! This was the district that we visited more than once and that really fascinated us most!

There is a suggested walk and you can find signs explaining the various sights everywhere.

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Palazzo Boyl was built in the neoclassicistic style. It used to belong to one of the richest families of the city. You will find parts of the Pisan Eagle's Tower (Torre dell’Aquila) and possibly parts of the Lions' Gate integrated into this building. The facade is decorated with four marble statues representing the four seasons. Plus you will be able to detect three cannon balls in the facade that are said to be cannon balls from attacks against Cagliari in the years 1708, 1717 and 1793.

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These two towers that look very much alike are part of the Pisan fortification of the castello. They were erected at the end of the 13th/beginning of the 14th century. In the 19th century they were used as a prison for political prisoners and in 1906 they were renovated to show the original construction as you can see it now.

Our host Luca told us that it is possible to climb the tower, but since the stairs are really steep for one thing and there are so many wonderful lookout terraces nearby, we did not do it this time but rather enjoyed the look of the tower itself.