A Few Historic Sites in Cagliari You Must Visit

Located at the south end of Sardinia the city of Cagliari is the island’s capital, main city and port. Its population is roughly 150,000. Some cruise lines do make a port call at Cagliari. My recommendation would be to give the city itself 1-2 days and spend the rest of your time in Sardinia elsewhere because there is so much to see on this lovely island, one of Italy’s many treasures.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to do a lot of sightseeing in Cagliari; I had eight hours of business webinars to facilitate from my hotel room which took a chunk of the two days we had planned for our visit here. In spite of my work commitments, we still were able to get out and see a few things in Cagliari.

Cripta Santa Restituta

This church doesn’t look like much until you enter the crypt, and then you realize what a historical gem it is. The crypt is a natural limestone cavern that has a history dating back about 3,500 years to an era of pagan worship. The crypt is named for Restituta, a martyr who made cavern her home in the 5th century. You can see a few faded frescoes from the 13th century and World War II – era graffiti when local residents used the crypt as an air-raid shelter. This crypt was definitely a highlight of our time in Cagliari.

View of the Church above the Cripta Santa Restituta.
Views of the crypt, including a image of Saint Restituta – right.

Thirteenth century fresco of John the Baptist in Cripta Santa Restituta.
Some of the graffiti from those who sheltered in the crypt during World War II – 1939-1943.

Tuvixeddu Necropolis

If you’d like to see something a bit off the tourist radar, check out Tuvixeddu Necropolis. It is on the edge of the older part of Cagliari and does not seem to get many visitors. There is no fee to visit, and the walking paths are used by locals taking their dogs for a walk. For some reason, the informational placards have been allowed to fade and are hard to read. I understand you can get a tour guide to assist you with your visit and that could be very helpful. There are about 1,000 tombs here, originally developed in the 6th to 3rd centuries BC by the Carthaginians and then reused in Roman times. These tombs were also used as air-raid shelters in WWII. The necropolis is definitely worth a visit! A few images below.

Tombs in the cliffsides at Tuvixeddu Necropolis.
Tombs carved into the hillside at Tuvixeddu. It must have been a huge amount of work to carve these tombs in hard rock, and to get the walls so smooth.
This image shows how deep some of the rock tombs are – I’m guessing this one is about 15 feet deep, over twice my height. Other are deeper. I would love to explore these, but it’s clear the local authorities don’t want you doing that from the signs and access barriers.

Bastione San Remy

This 19th-century structure is one of Cagliari’s iconic locations. From the terrace, you are rewarded with a sweeping view of Cagliari and the shoreline. There are a number of restaurants below Bastione San Remy, this is a good area to wander in the evening as the sun sets.

View of Cagliari from the Bastione San Remy.
View of Bastione San Remi from the street level.
The terrace archway at Bastione San Remi.

Il Castello

This is Cagliari’s hilltop citadel, surrounded by huge walls with several towers and gates. The interior of the citadel seemed pretty quiet – there is a university here and cathedral and some small squares, but not many tourists!

The massive walls of the Il Castello, Cagliari.
Views of the Cathedral of Santa Maria, located in the citadel, which dates from the 13th century (specifically the square bell tower – left image). The cathedral has been renovated over the centuries. The image on the right is the Sanctuary of Martyrs, the only one of several underground rooms open to the public. The relics of 179 martyrs are kept here.

Left – one of the citadel’s little public squares, right – view of the bay and harbor from the citadel.

Other Views of Cagliari

Other beautiful churches in Cagliari – I would have loved to have the time to explore these more.

This is about the only view I could get of the Roman amphitheater in Cagliari, which dates from the 2nd century AD. Unfortunately, it was closed during the time of our visit for restoration work. The amphitheater is just outside the Il Castello.

I would have also liked to visit Poetto Beach – just to the south of Cagliari’s old town. It looks lovely. However, we had visited many other beaches in Sardinia so we decided to prioritize our time to see the city’s other sights.

Hotel

We stayed at the Palazzo Tirso hotel in Cagliari, a beautiful hotel right on the waterfront and close to everything we visited above. The service was excellent and the room was very comfortable. I wanted to ensure I had good internet capability and I needed an early check-in, so we chose this hotel. Definitely recommended!

Views from the Palazzo Tirso hotel rooftop.
The pool and lounge area on the rooftop of the Palazzo Tirso Hotel.

Outside Cagliari

There are several other interesting sights not too far from Cagliari that could make nice day-trips, including the ancient Su Nuraxi di Barumini (which you can read more about here). Also, the Roman settlement of Nora (west of Cagliari) is definitely worth visiting and the fantastic resort area of Villasimius, southeast of Cagliari – with so many beautiful beaches it’s hard to know where to begin! I will be posting about Nora and Villasimius soon.

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