Beyond Capo Carbonara, the S.E. point of Sardinia, and the Isola dei Cavoli (p. [118]), opens the broad Gulf of Cagliari on the flat S. coast of the island. On the hill-side at the head of the gulf, beyond the fortified Cape Sant’Elia, which shuts off the inner Golfo di Quarto, lies the town of Cagliari. Around it are several large coast-lakes, the Stagno di Molentargius, on the E., the Stagno di Cagliari, on the W., and others, which yield quantities of salt. The latter has been separated from the gulf only since the middle ages by a neck of land called the Plaia.
Cágliări.—The Steamer is moored in the Darsena. Landing or embarkation 40, with baggage 60 c.
Hotels. Scala di Ferro, Viale Regina Margherita 5, with good restaurant, R. 2½–3 fr.; Quattro Mori, Largo Carlo Felice, R. from 2 fr., also restaurant.—Café Torino, Via Roma.
Post & Telegraph Office, Via Lodovico Baille 22.—Cab (bargaining advisable) 1, at night ½ fr. per drive; baggage 20 c.
British Consul (also Lloyd’s Agent), R. E. Pernis.
Cagliari, Sardin. Casteddu, the Roman Carales, a very ancient town, having been founded by the Phœnicians, now the seat of a university and of an archbishop, with 48,000 inhab., lies in one of the hottest and driest regions in Italy. At the foot of the Castello or old town (290 ft.) lie the new quarters of Villanova, Marina, and Stampace, adjoined on the W. by the suburb of Sant’Avendrace.
The Via Roma, an avenue skirting the sea, the fashionable corso in the evening, leads from the Palazzo Comunale to the Largo Carlo Felice. On the right are two covered Markets, which are worth seeing in the forenoon. This largo leads to the Piazza Yenne, the business centre of the modern town.
At the N. end of the Largo Carlo Felice rises a statue of Charles Felix I. (1821–31), and in the Piazza Yenne an antique column. Between these passes the main thoroughfare of the town: to the left the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, ending near a group of ancient Roman houses recently excavated, now called Casa di Tigellio; to the right, leading to the upper town, the animated Via Manno (popularly ‘La Costa‘), with numerous shops, where among other things the gold ornaments commonly worn by the country-people should be noticed.
From the Piazza della Costituzione, at the S.E. end of the Via Manno, the *Viale Regina Elena runs to the N., beneath the precipitous E. side of the abrupt Castello. It affords a fine view of the ancient town-wall, of the cathedral, and of the picturesque rear of the castle-buildings; below, on the right, lies Villanova, with its quaint tiled roofs, while beyond it we have a splendid view of Cape Sant’ Elia and across the wide plain of Quarto to the mountains.
From the Giardino Pubblico, at the N. end of the promenade, we mount to the W. to the Passeggiata Buon Cammino (see below).