Cagliari, with about 150 thousand inhabitants, is the capital of the region of Sardinia, and the seat of the University and of the archbishop. In the middle of the south coast of Sardinia, Cagliari is in the Gulf of Angels and bordered by the Devil’s Saddle promontory. The names of the Gulf and the promontory came from a legend that says that God donated the Gulf to the angels but demons, led by Lucifer, attempted to seize the gulf, but during the battle Lucifer’s saddle fell on the top of the promontory giving the current shape. The promontory of the Devil's Saddle separates Poetto beach from the little cove of Calamosca.
The city lies on several hills including Castello hill, the historic center of Cagliari and Monte Urpinu hill, which provides a panorama above the Poetto beach. On the summit of San Michele hill, it is still visible a three towers castle, built around the twelfth century in order to defend the medieval town of Santa Igia, built on the shores of this lagoon.
The history of Cagliari lasts thousands of years: populated during the Neolithic period (6000-3000 BC), it becomes an authentic town many centuries later, thanks to the Phoenician which exploited its strategic central location in the Mediterranean. Later the Punic and subsequently the Romans left several ruins as the impressive roman amphitheater. After a negative phase during the vandals invasion, a more independent period was known during the four kingdoms of Giudicati, administered by the Sardinians. The “Giudicato of Cagliari” lost the hegemony of the control of the golf in the XIII century AD when the Pisans arrived and fortified the upper part of the town. Castello, the castle, become the seat of the administrative structures and residence of the new rulers. Today, bastions, fortifications, defensive towers and the division into the four historic districts of Castle, Stampace, Marina and Villanova are still visible. In 1325 the Spanish Government took office and lasted until 1713. After a brief domination by the Austrians, Cagliari passed under the Savoy kingdom which led the urban transformation and the economic and social development.
Nowadays there are still visible ramparts and fortifications used to spot the enemy and protect the castle district. The tower of “San Pancrazio” is one of the defensive towers built by the Pisans and it is about 30 meters high, and built 130m above the sea level. Subsequently, during the Spanish domination, the towers were used as prisons. In the Castle, the Pisans also built the cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria, the main place of worship in Cagliari. The cathedral preserves different artistic styles of seven centuries of history: built in the thirteenth century is modified repeatedly and, according to Spanish will, a crypt had been inserted, where 190 relics of martyrs are housed.