Cagliari

Cagliari stands above a sheltered harbour on the southern coast of Sardinia. The fortified hill of Castello overlooks the port, while the Campidano plain and the mineral lands to the west supplied the city with grain and ores. Carthaginian and Roman remains bear witness to its long history as a Mediterranean centre.

After the Aragonese conquest in the fourteenth century, Cagliari became the seat of royal government in Sardinia. A viceroy governed from the royal palace, and the fortifications were strengthened with bastions in the sixteenth century. The House of Savoy gained the island in the eighteenth century. In 1793 the inhabitants helped repel a French attack; the following year resentment at Savoyard rule led them to expel the viceroy and Piedmontese officials, though Savoy later recovered control.