Castello di San Michele (Castle of San Michele), Cagliari

The Castle of San Michele is a medieval fortress in Cagliari, Italy. It houses the City Center of Art & Culture. The castle has an amazing view of the ocean and the mountains, making it a great place for photographers. It is surrounded by a park which is great for relaxing, without being too touristy.

The Castle of San Michele is a fortified building, dating back to the judicial period, which stands on the hill of the same name in Cagliari. The building, due to its position and historical relevance, represents one of the most significant monuments in the city. The Castle of San Michele has a quadrangular plan, three towers and a surrounding moat. The three towers, still visible, are positioned to the north-east, south-east and south-west and have different construction characteristics. The north-east and south-east towers date back to the 13th century and are attributable to Pisan workers while the south-west tower dates back to the 15th century and is attributable to Aragonese builders. The function of the south-west tower is particularly important since, thanks to its strategic position, it guaranteed control of the interior of the Castle and, at the same time, of the exterior. The internal structure of the building was characterized by an internal courtyard, rooms for the castellans and for the servants. The restoration interventions of the twentieth century gave the Castle a new cultural function; the complex represents one of the main centers of art and culture in the city, often home to exhibitions and cultural initiatives. It is also thanks to this function that a good state of conservation is guaranteed, despite some cases of disintegration caused by the presence of calcareous material.

Cagliari also stands on seven hills. Above that of Saint Michael it seems that the Romans had built a temple to the god Aesculapius. In the Byzantine era, the pagan cult of the protector of medicine was replaced by the Christian cult of Saint Michael . Therefore it is no coincidence that at the top of the hill, at the end of a series of hairpin bends between white tufaceous rocks and the greenery of agaves and Mediterranean essences, a monastery and then a church arose, both dedicated to the archangel. Today a medieval castle stands up there, in excellent condition, dominating the city, surrounded by a park. It was once isolated, today it is part of the is Mirrionis neighborhood . From the summit the view extends 360 degrees over the entire capital: the fortifications of the Castello district, the port, the Poetto , the Sella del Diavolo , the Santa Gilla lagoon . You will see the manor, which has always been a sentinel of the access road to Campidano, from every point of the city and its surroundings, even from kilometers away.

The castle of San Michele stands on the extreme outskirts of Cagliari on the hill of the same name, which reaches a height of approximately 180 m. The first structure, most likely with a single tower, can be traced back to between the 9th and 10th centuries and had the function of a fortress, to defend Santa Igia, the ancient capital of the Giudicato of Cagliari. Around 1325 the castle was given as a fief by Alfonso III, king of Spain, to Berengaria Carroz for the services provided to the crown during the conquest of Sardinia. Thus it was that the manor became one of the richest and most renowned residences on the entire island. The castle and the surrounding village, completely self-sufficient from all points of view, in the most flourishing period welcomed around a hundred people. The last heir of the family who lived there was Violante Carroz, who died in 1511 and remained in history with the nickname of the bloodthirsty for some supposedly obscure facts in which she was involved. Subsequently the castle was abandoned and its slow decline began. Around 1650 it was used as a hospital following a ferocious plague epidemic that decimated the population. In 1895 it was declared a national monument, an attribution that did not spare it from being of military relevance: from 1930 to 1977 the castle hosted the transmitting headquarters of the navy. The restoration work began in 1991 and was presided over by an archaeological excavation which brought to light several underground areas, such as the cistern. These works managed to safeguard what was preserved of the now ruin, making it usable. In 2001 the castle began its new life as a center of art and culture and since then it has been an important component of Cagliari's museum system. ***PH***