Cagliari, the Spanish liked the fortress built by the Pisans

The district of Castello, in Caliari, is well-worth a detailed visit. It was fortified by the Pisans: to that period date back the Torre di San Pancrazio (San Pancrazio Tower - 1305, hosted the jails until the XIX century: it is the highest point of the city) and of the Torre dell’Elefante (The Elephant Tower - 1307), both designed by the Sardinian architect Giovanni Capula.

Castello, from the top of one of the hills of Cagliari, dominates the city and allows a large overview which goes from the Golfo degli Angeli until the mounts of the Sette Fratelli. Its strategic position allowed also - to the Aragoneses at first and to the Spanish later - to rule Cagliari without being ever in dangers, even because centuries ago, the walls were encircled by moats where the water overflowed. Only few traces of those moats remain today on the external walls.

The Spanish built the numerous towers of coastal sighting, scattered along the shoreline of Cagliari (but even in a good part of Sardinia), beginning from the tower of Calamosca (1638). Great importance had the blockhouse of Sant’Ignazio, with a strategic role against the French naval attack in 1793.