Sanluri

There is only one castle perfectly conserved in Sardinia: it is that of Sanluri, the capital of the new Province of the Medio Campidano (until the first months of 2005 it was included in the Province of Cagliari). Beside than around the agriculture, the economy of this town revolves around the tourist flow. The flat of Sanluri, in 1409, was devastated by the terrible clash between the Catalan-Aragoneses troops, guided by Martino il Giovane, and those of Guglielmo III of Narbona. At the end, the fortress and the medieval village returned in the hands of the Spanish.

The castle was constructed in 1197 and refurbished in the current shape in 1355. A part of the external walls was completed in a period shorter than a month: men and women worked nonstop, day and night, while 300 horse soldiers assured the patrol. At the end it became the outpost in order to defend the Capo de Càller (Cagliari and the surrounding territory) from the attacks of the Giudicato di Arborea. In 1927 the count Nino Santa Villa gave an important impulse to the revival of the fortress, transforming it in the Museum of the Italian Risorgimento “Duca d’Aosta”. Among the other reasons of interest, we signal the Festival of the bean, that takes place in November.