Cagliari City Hall

The town hall, in Cagliari

The town hall of Cagliari, the Palazzo Civico, is a magnificent building raised facing the port at the turn of the twentieth century. The Cagliari audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this building with a style mingling Catalan Gothic and Italian Art Nouveau, whose corner turret bears the symbol of Sardinia, the four blindfolded Moors' heads, and whose first stone was laid in the presence of King Humbert I.

History

The magnificent Palazzo Bacaredda, that stands at the corner of the street, is the new town hall of Cagliari. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the municipality sat in a palace of the Piazza Palazzo, but in 1896 it was decided to build a new seat facing the port. The project was retained at the end of a great architecture competition, and the first stone laid in the presence of King Humbert I and his wife Margaret of Savoy, the sovereign being the son of Victor-Emmanuel II, first king of unified Italy. Begun in 1899, the works were completed eight years later. The result impresses by a style mingling Catalan Gothic and Italian Art Nouveau. At the corner of the building, the turret bears the symbol of Sardinia: the four blindfolded Moors' heads, the "quatro morri". The most common explanation sees in it the echo of four victories of the Reconquista in four regions of Spain, the blindfolded eyes recalling the way in which the Moors were executed; as Spain long dominated Sardinia, the symbol would have passed onto the Sardinian flag, even if historians today propose other readings of it.

What to see

Here you admire the Palazzo Bacaredda, a magnificent town hall raised facing the port between 1899 and 1907, with a style mingling Catalan Gothic and Italian Art Nouveau; its corner turret bears the symbol of Sardinia, the four blindfolded Moors' heads, and its first stone was laid in the presence of King Humbert I. The town hall is a jewel of the via Roma in Cagliari. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The town hall of Cagliari stands on the via Roma, facing the port, reachable on foot; it also shelters the tourist office. You admire its façade from the street; the interior access follows the hours of the services, which vary. You discover it during a walk along the port.

What do the four Moors' heads of the town hall of Cagliari symbolise?

They are the "quatro morri", symbol of Sardinia borne by the corner turret; the most common explanation sees in it the echo of four victories of the Reconquista in four regions of Spain, the blindfolded eyes recalling the way in which the Moors were executed. As Spain long dominated the island, the symbol would have passed onto the Sardinian flag, but historians propose other readings of it.

Where is the town hall of Cagliari?

On the via Roma, facing the port, in Cagliari, in Italy.