-> Sassari Route

SASSARI

Time: half a day

Cathedral of San Nicola, Sassari

The cathedral of San Nicola was founded back in the 12th century, but only the Romanesque bell-tower remains of this period. The next important date as regards building is 1441, the year the diocesan centre was moved from Porto Torres to Sassari, when the Gothic-Catalan style cross vaults were built, while the façade and portico were rebuilt before 1718. Here, the statues of S. Nicola and the martyrs Gavino, Proto and Gianuario stand out in special niches. Important works of art are preserved inside. The high altar is particularly noteworthy with the fourteenth-century Madonna del Bosco, as well as priceless paintings and the neoclassical mausoleum of Placido Benedetto di Savoia, count of Moriana, by Felice Festa (1807).

The objects in the Diocesan Museum are very interesting (silver, sacred paraments and the splendid processional standard on board dating back to the sixteenth century). The monumental Palazzo Ducale stands behind the cathedral in Piazza del Comune. It was built at the wish of the duke of Vallombrosa between 1775 and 1806 by the engineer from Piedmont Carlo Valino in neo-sixteenth century style and today it is home to the Municipal Administration. If you take Via Turritana and turn right into Via Università, you come to the Palazzo dell’Università. The decoration in the Great Hall is particularly

interesting. It was entrusted to Mario Delitala, who completed the four great panels between 1928 and 1930, which narrate episodes from the history of the University of Sassari. The same artist is also responsible for the two great mythological paintings, which decorate the Great Hall in the nearby Liceo Classico "D.A. Azuni".

Crossing the gardens again and the Emiciclo Garibaldi, you come to Piazza d’Italia which is dominated by the impressive Palazzo della Provincia (designed by Eugenio Sironi and Giovanni Borgnini), and built in Neoclassical style between 1873 and 1880. The council hall, on the first floor, was decorated with frescoes (1881) by the Sicilian Giuseppe Sciuti. The neo-Gothic Palazzo Giordano, which was designed by the architect Luigi Fasoli in 1878, also stands in the same square. Two of the rooms inside were frescoed by the painter from Rimini Guglielmo Bilancioni. From the square follow Via Roma and you will come to the Palazzo di Giustizia.

The edifice was built in various phases, but the original design dates back to 1929. The use of red trachyte and, more importantly, the presence of the ancient colonnade are classical motifs typical of monumental representative architecture. The mosaic of the great stair-case inside by Giuseppe Biasi is particularly noteworthy. In Via Roma there is also the Museo Nazionale "Giovanni Antonio Sanna" ("G. A. Sanna" National Museum), which was set up at the end of the nineteenth century thanks to the generosity of the entrepreneur and politician from Sassari. Inside, it houses an important collection of archaeological finds dating back to the Prehistoric and Byzantine age and a Picture Gallery with important paintings on board dating back to the fifteenth and sixteenth century, as well as priceless nineteenth-century paintings by Giovanni Marghinotti.

Heading back up Viale Umberto northwards, you come to Piazza Mercato where there is the Chiesa della Trinità (Trinity Church). To the right of the building a stairway leads to the Fonte di Rosello (Rosello Foundatin), embellished with the statues of the Seasons, which was built in its present late Renaissance style by marble workers from Genoa in 1606.