Quartu Sant'Elena
Encyclopedia
Quartu Sant'Elena is a city and comune
in the Province of Cagliari
, Sardinia
, Italy
. It is the third biggest city of Sardinia with a population of c. 71,000 as of 2008.
The first traces of human presence in Quartu are from the Phoenician period, as attested by findingsin Cepola, Geremeas, Is Mortorius and Separassiu localities. Roman findings were found near Sant’Andrea villa, a graveyard at S. Martino and a few tombs at Simbirizzi.
In the 4th century AD Sardinia was divided into four Giudicati
: Quartu, which included fourteen villas, belonged to the Giudicato of Cagliari
.
In 1066 Quartu was given to Cagliari’s archbishop and then went back to Judge Torgotorio II of Cagliari. During the Aragonese rule, Quartu suffered for famines, plague, malaria and continuous raids from Saracen pirates, following the general path of decay of the whole Sardinia.
In 1793 the soldiers of a French fleet landed on the coast of Quartu, with the intention of conquering the whole island; the people of the city, led by Antonio Pisanu, assailed the French and repelled them after a bloody battle.
Feudalism ended in 1836 under the baron Pes di Villamarina. In 1956 Quartu Sant’Elena was upgraded to the status of “city” by the President of Republic Giovanni Gronchi
.
There is also Sa dom’e farra (house museum). It is a large peasant house of the 17th century, where you can see various rooms, objects and tools used by the peasant society.
There are numerous nuraghi in the neighbourhood.
Quartu also produces excellent wines, bread and cakes.
Although the city is not extremely big, there are many shopping opportunities: Carrefour
, E. Leclerc-Conad, Iper Pan.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the Province of Cagliari
Province of Cagliari
Cagliari is a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia in Italy. Its capital is the city of Cagliari.It has an area of 4,470 km², and a total population of 543,310 . There are 71 comuni in the province....
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is the third biggest city of Sardinia with a population of c. 71,000 as of 2008.
History
The city's name comes from its distance to Cagliari (Quartum miles, Latin for “four miles”), and from the passage there of St. Helena, mother of emperor Constantine.The first traces of human presence in Quartu are from the Phoenician period, as attested by findingsin Cepola, Geremeas, Is Mortorius and Separassiu localities. Roman findings were found near Sant’Andrea villa, a graveyard at S. Martino and a few tombs at Simbirizzi.
In the 4th century AD Sardinia was divided into four Giudicati
Giudicati
The giudicati were the indigenous kingdoms of Sardinia from about 900 until 1410, when the last fell to the Aragonese. The rulers of the giudicati were giudici , from the Latin iudice , often translates as "judge". The Latin for giudicato was iudicatus The giudicati (singular giudicato) were the...
: Quartu, which included fourteen villas, belonged to the Giudicato of Cagliari
Giudicato of Cagliari
The Giudicato of Cagliari was one of the four Sardinian giudicati of the Middle Ages. It covered the entire south and central east portion of the island and was composed of thirteen subdivisions called curatoriae. To its north and west lay Arborea and north and on the east lay Gallura and Logudoro...
.
In 1066 Quartu was given to Cagliari’s archbishop and then went back to Judge Torgotorio II of Cagliari. During the Aragonese rule, Quartu suffered for famines, plague, malaria and continuous raids from Saracen pirates, following the general path of decay of the whole Sardinia.
In 1793 the soldiers of a French fleet landed on the coast of Quartu, with the intention of conquering the whole island; the people of the city, led by Antonio Pisanu, assailed the French and repelled them after a bloody battle.
Feudalism ended in 1836 under the baron Pes di Villamarina. In 1956 Quartu Sant’Elena was upgraded to the status of “city” by the President of Republic Giovanni Gronchi
Giovanni Gronchi
Giovanni Gronchi was a Christian Democratic Italian politician who became the third President of the Italian Republic in 1955, after Luigi Einaudi...
.
Main sights
From an artistic point of view, there are five interesting churches situated in the city. The most important are the churches of Sant'Elena Imperatrice (dating before 1589, but now in Neo-Classic lines and recently proclaimed "Basilica"), Santa Maria Cepola (before 1089) and Sant'Agata.There is also Sa dom’e farra (house museum). It is a large peasant house of the 17th century, where you can see various rooms, objects and tools used by the peasant society.
There are numerous nuraghi in the neighbourhood.
Geography
Quartu has a long, shallow coastline. It also looks onto the pond of Molentargius, where flamingos and Sultan roosters nest.Economy
The economy is based on the tertiary industry.Quartu also produces excellent wines, bread and cakes.
Although the city is not extremely big, there are many shopping opportunities: Carrefour
Carrefour
Carrefour S.A. is an international hypermarket chain headquartered in Levallois-Perret, France. It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world...
, E. Leclerc-Conad, Iper Pan.