Santa Igia was a city in 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[],...

, in what is now Italy, which existed from the 9th century AD to 1258, when it was destroyed by the Pisane troops

Republic of Pisa

The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...

. It was the capital of 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...

, one of the dukedoms in which the islands was divided in medieval times.

Parts of its remains are now found in Cagliari

Cagliari

Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...

, as well as in the island of Sa Illetta.

History

The area of Santa Igia was inhabited by the Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

ns and the Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

. The latter, in particular, built a port (Portus Scipio) on the shores of the Stagno di Santa Gilla.

In 718 Arab pirates launched their first raids against Cagliari, destroying sectors of the city and enslaving some inhabitants. Thus some of the Cagliaritani moved to the area facing the island of Santa Gilla, founding the city of Santa Igia, whose port had been used also by the Byzantines

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. Starting from the 9th century AD, it became the seat of the giudice, the archbishop and the administration of the giudicato of Cagliari. The area was walled and connected to the Castle of St. Michael.

In 1257, during the process of conquest of the Giudicato of Cagliari, the Pisane destroyed it.