Sassari

Sassari stands inland from Sardinia's northern coast. It grew from several villages into a major centre of the Judicate of Torres and later became a commune with statutes of its own. Its churches, palaces and fountain of the Rosello reflect the wealth and ambitions of a city shaped by Sardinian, Genoese and Aragonese rule.

Sassari sided with Aragon in 1323, though its people later revolted repeatedly. In 1391 Brancaleone Doria and Mariano V of Arborea took the city, which became the last capital of their judicate. It passed again to Aragon in 1420. French troops sacked Sassari in 1527, and plague followed in 1528. The city also suffered another severe plague in 1652. The Jesuits founded a university in 1562, the same year a printing press was introduced to the city.