Sights in Northern Sardinia
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Museo della Brigata Sassari
Sassari is rightly proud of its military heritage, especially the well-decorated Sassari Brigade, which fought with great gallantry during WWI. You can glean something of the terrible conditions they endured in the tiny Museo della Brigata Sassari in the military barracks.
Uniforms, photos, documents and other memorabilia evoke the ghastly conditions and ferocious bravery of the brigade, who were thrown into the thick of the trench fighting against the Austrians in northern Italy. You can even read the letter in which the Austro-Hungarian commander first gave the brigade their epithet 'the red devils'. There are old guns and grenades on show, and a re-creation of a modern…
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Grotta di Nettuno
A vertiginous 654-step staircase descends 110m of sheer cliff to the Grotta di Nettuno, an underground fairyland of stalactites and stalagmites. If you don’t fancy the staircase, there are ferries from Alghero – Traghetti Navisarda, departing hourly between 9am and 5pm from June to September, and four times daily in the rest of the year. Otherwise, there’s a daily bus from Via Catalogna (€2, 50 minutes) which departs Alghero at 9.15am and returns at midday. From June to September, there are two extra runs at 3.10pm and 5.10pm, returning at 4.05pm and 6.05pm.
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Museo Diocesano d'Arte Sacra
In the grand spaces that were once the Oratorio del Rosario is the cathedral museum. It houses a good collection of religious art including silverware, statuary, paintings and wood carving. A ghoulish touch is the reliquary of what is claimed to be one of the innocenti (newborn babies slaughtered by Herod in his search for the Christ child). The tiny skull is chilling, but apparently it appealed to Alghero artist Francesco Pinna, who received it from a Roman cardinal in the 16th century. The low, flat arch of the former chapel is clearly inspired by the Catalan Gothic style.
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Chiesa di Santa Maria di Betlem
Just beyond what were the city walls stands the proud Romanesque façade of the eclectic Chiesa di Santa Maria di Betlem. The exterior betrays Gothic and even vaguely Oriental admixtures. Inside, the Catalan Gothic vaulting has been preserved, but much baroque silliness has crept in to obscure the original lines of the building. Lining each aisle in the chapels stand some of the giant 'candles' that the city guilds parade about town for the 14 August festivities.
The church is not always open, but your best bet is the morning.
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Palazzo d'Usini
North of Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, Via Cesare Battisti leads into the leafy Piazza Tola. It used to be the centre and main market of the medieval town, and you'll still find a market here on weekday mornings. When the Spaniards were in charge they burnt heretics here, looking on from fine palazzos such as the 1577 Palazzo d'Usini. It's a rare example of 16th-century civil architecture in Sardinia and now houses the public library.
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Piazza Civica
Piazza Civica is just inside the Port a Mare (Sea Gate) and was once the administrative heart of Alghero. This busy, uneven square is still faced by reminders of Alghero's late-medieval splendour. It was from the window of the Gothic mansion Palazzo d'Albis that Charles V leaned out during his 1541 stay to declare in generous mood, 'You are all knights.'
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Museo Nazionale Sanna
Sassari’s main attraction is the Museo Nazionale Sanna and its comprehensive archaeological collection. The highlight is the nuraghic bronzeware, including weapons, bracelets, votive boats and figurines depicting humans and animals. Also has an interesting picture gallery and a small collection of Sardinian folk art.
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Cattedrale di Santa Maria
Overlooking Piazza Duomo, the oversized Cattedrale di Santa Maria is an odd mishmash of Moorish, baroque, Renaissance and other influences. Of greater interest is the campanile around the back, a fine example of Catalan-Gothic architecture.
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Casa di Re Enzo
The Casa di Re Enzo is a remarkable 15th-century Catalan Gothic setting for what is now a stocking store. It is fronted by thick-set double arches and heavy hanging lamps. Wander inside to get a closer look at the vibrant frescoes and ceiling paintwork.
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Duomo
In the heart of the centro storico, Sassari’s Duomo dazzles with its 18th-century baroque facade, a giddy free-for-all of statues, reliefs, friezes and busts. Inside, the cathedral reverts to its original Gothic character.
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Fontana di Rosello
Water-carriers once drew water from the eight lion-head spouts that ring the base of the Renaissance Fontana di Rosello. It is an elegant affair - a pale white marble box topped by two fine marble arches that protect the figure of San Gavino.
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Chiesa di San Michele
Along Via Carlo Alberto is a church whose main feature is its majolica dome, typical of churches in Valencia, another former Catalan territory. The present tiles were laid in the 1960s, but this doesn't detract from the visual pleasure.
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Chiesa di San Simplicio
There’s precious little to visit in Olbia apart from the Romanesque Chiesa di San Simplicio. Built entirely of granite in the late 11th century, it is a curious mix of Tuscan and Lombard styles.
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Palazzo della Provincia
The grand dust-brown Piazza Italia sits right at the heart of town, surrounded by imposing 19th-century buildings, including the neoclassical Palazzo della Provincia, the seat of the regional government.
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Torre di Longonsardo
The 16th-century Torre di Longonsardo is in a magnificent position, overlooking the natural deep port on one side and the entrance to the town's idyllic (but crowded) Spiaggia Rena Bianca on the other.
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Torre Porta a Terra
Torre Porta a Terra was once one of Alghero’s two main gates. It now houses a small multimedia museum dedicated to the city’s past and a terrace with sweeping, 360-degree views.
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Medieval Walls
Following Via Lamarmora west off the square, make for the Porta Rossello and then west along Corso Trinità, where you can admire the only substantial remnant of the city's Medieval Walls.
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Mare Nostrum Aquarium
The Mare Nostrum Aquarium is Sardinia's only aquarium. It's a good diversion for kids, with quite a variety of fishy elements from piranhas and leopard sharks to seahorses and reptiles.
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Casa Farris
Casa Farris remains in a lamentable state, but its Gothic windows are a clear indication that the building has managed, barely, to survive down the centuries.
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Bastione della Maddalena
To the north of the old town, the Bastione della Maddalena, with its like-named tower, forms the only extant remnant of the city's former land battlements.
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Chiesa di San Francesco
On the old town’s main street, the Chiesa di San Francesco hides some beautiful 14th-century cloisters behind an austere stone facade.
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Statue of King Vittorio Emanuele II
A Statue of King Vittorio Emanuele II presides over Piazza Italia. The monument's inauguration in 1899 was the occasion for the first Cavalcata Sarda.
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Quatre Cantonades
This intersection has history. For centuries day-labourers would gather here in the hope of finding work. It is near the Chiesa Di San Michele.
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Torre di San Giovanni
Torre di San Giovanni is a tower that has been turned into a multimedia history display on Alghero (closed at the time of writing).
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Compendio Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi's home, the Compendio Garibaldi, is visitable by guided tours (in Italian) only.
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