In the city of Cagliari, capital of the island region of Sardinia

 "There is not in Italy what there is in Sardinia, nor in Sardinia what there is in Italy." -- Francesco Cetti

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(in Sardinia) The city of Cagliari, capital of the island region of Sardinia, lies at the northern extremity of the Gulf of Cagliari, on the south coast of the island. Known to the Greeks as Cardlis and to the Romans as Caralis, the main Carthaginian stronghold in Sardinia was occupied by the Romans in the Second Punic War. In imperial Roman times Caralis became the most important town on the island, mainly due to ts fine sheltered harbor -- where a detachment of the fleet of Misenum was stationed. It was also the chief point of the Sardinian road system. Though it was independent in the European Middle Ages, it later fell to the Pisans and the Aragonese before passing, with the rest of Sardinia, to the house of Savoy in 1718.

+ Long the military headquarters of the island, Cagliari had important Italian naval and air bases until they were destroyed by heavy Allied bombing in World War II. The harbor has been rebuilt and is now Sardinia’s principal port.

+ Cagliar is an autonomous region of Italy, with about 155,000 inhabitants, while its metropolitan city (including Cagliari and 16 other nearby municipalities) has about 420,000 inhabitants. According to Eurostat, the population of the functional urban area (the commuting zone of Cagliari), rises to 476,975.

+ The best way to arrive in Sardinia’s historic capital is by sea, the city rising in a helter-skelter of golden-hued palazzi, domes and facades up to the rocky centerpiece, Il Castello. Cagliari is the most Italian of Sardinia’s cities. Vespas buzz down tree-fringed boulevards and locals hang out at busy cafes that are tucked under arcades in the seafront Marina district.

+ An ancient city with a long history, Cagliari's historical sites include the prehistoric Domus de Janas, a large Carthaginian era necropolis, a Roman era amphitheater, a Byzantine basilica, three Pisan-era towers and a strong system of fortification that made the town the core of Spanish Habsburg imperial power in the western Mediterranean Sea. Its natural resources have always been its sheltered harbor, the often powerfully fortified hill of Castel di Castro, the modern Casteddu, the salt from its lagoons, and, from the hinterland, wheat from the Campidano plain and silver and other ores from the Iglesiente mines.

+ Cagliari was the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1324 to 1848, when Turin became the formal capital of the kingdom (which in 1861 became the Kingdom of Italy). Today the city is a regional cultural, educational, political, and artistic center, known for its diverse Art Nouveau architecture and several monuments. It is also Sardinia's economic and industrial hub, having one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean Sea, and an international airport; it is also the seat of the University of Cagliari, since 607, and of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cagliari, since the 5th century CE.