Sassari - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sassari (ˈsassari; ; ) is an Italian

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...

city. It is the second-largest city of 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 terms of population with about 130,000 inhabitants, or about 300,000 including the greater metropolitan area. Being one of the oldest cities on the island, it contains a considerable collection of art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

.

Over time, Sassari has been ruled by the Sardinians themselves (albeit briefly), the Genoese

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, the Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

ns, the Catalan-Aragonese

Crown of Aragon

The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

, the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

and the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

ns, all of whom have contributed to Sassari's historical and artistic heritage. Sassari is a city rich in art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, culture

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

and history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, and is well known for its beautiful "palazzi" and its elegant, neo-classical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

piazza

Piazza

A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...

s, such as Piazza d'Italia (Italy Square, so named in honour of the Italian unification

Italian unification

Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...

into a kingdom in 1861) and the Teatro Civico (Civic Theatre).

As Sardinia's second most important city, and the fifth largest municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

in Italy (area 546 km²), it has a considerable amount of cultural

Culture

, touristic

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, commercial

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

and political

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

importance in the island. The city's economy mainly relies on tourism

Tourism

and services, however also partially on research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

, construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

, pharmaceuticals and the petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

industry.

Geography

Sassari is located in north-western Sardinia

Sardinia

, at 225 metres above sea level

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

. The area rises up on a wide karstic plateau, that slopes gently down towards the Gulf of Asinara

Asinara

Asinara is an Italian island of in area. The name is Italian for "donkey-inhabited", but it is thought to derive from the Latin "sinuaria", and meaning sinus-shaped. The island is virtually uninhabited. The census of population of 2001 lists one man. The island is located off the north-western...

and the Nurra

Nurra

The Nurra is a geographical region in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. It is the second largest plain of the island, located between the towns of Sassari, Porto Torres and Alghero...

Plain. The city is surrounded by a green belt

Green belt

A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...

of thousands of hectares of olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

plantations, that from the 19th century has partly replaced the mixed woodlands of oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

and other Mediterranean trees as well as the maquis shrubland

Maquis shrubland

thumb|220px|Low Maquis in Corsica.220px|thumb|High macchia in Sardinia.Maquis or macchia is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs such as holm oak, tree heath, strawberry tree, sage, juniper, buckthorn, spurge olive and myrtle...

. The thinly populated Nurra

Nurra

The Nurra is a geographical region in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. It is the second largest plain of the island, located between the towns of Sassari, Porto Torres and Alghero...

Plain, located in the west, occupies the main part of the region of Sassari, while the urban agglomeration, with a population of about 275.000 inhabithants, is located in the south east.
The abundance of water (400 springs and artesian wells) has made for much development of horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

over the centuries.

Prehistory and ancient history

Although Sassari was founded in the early Middle Ages

Early Middle Ages

The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...

, the surrounding area has been inhabited since the Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

age, and throughout ancient history

Ancient history

Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...

, by the Nuragics

Nuraghe

The nuraghe is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture, the Nuragic civilization...

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....

.
Many archaeological sites and ancient ruins are located inside or around the town, as the prehistoric step pyramid

Step pyramid

Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout history, in several locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and made of several layers of stone...

of Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d'Accoddi is an archaeological site in northern Sardinia, between Sassari and Porto Torres.It is the site of a megalithic structure dated to around 2700=2000 BC and discovered in 1954....

, a large number of Nuraghe
Nuraghe
The nuraghe is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture, the Nuragic civilization...

s and Domus de Janas
Domus de Janas
Domus de Janas are a type of pre-historic chamber tombs found in the Mediterranean area, but typically in Sardinia. They consist of several chambers quarried out by the Ozieri and Beaker cultures, resembling houses in their layout.Built between 3400 and 2700 BC, more than 1000 of the rock-cut...

(Fairy Houses), the ruins of a Roman aqueduct, the ruins of a roman villa discovered under San Nicholas Cathedral, and a portion of the ancient road that connected the Latin colony of Turrys Lybissonis

Porto Torres

Porto Torres is a comune and city in northern Sardinia, in the Province of Sassari.It is situated on the north coast about 25 km east of the Gorditanian promontory , and on the spacious bay of the Gulf of Asinara.-History:...

with Caralis

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...

.
Inside the boundaries of the municipality is also found a fossil site where an Oreopithecus bambolii

Oreopithecus bambolii

Oreopithecus is an extinct primate from the Miocene epoch whose fossils have been found in today's Tuscany and Sardinia in Italy. Oreopithecus existed in the Tusco-Sardinian area when this territory was an isolated island in an arc of islands stretching from central Europe to northern Africa.In...

, a prehistoric anthropomorphic primate, was discovered, dated at 8,5 millions years.

Middle Ages

The town was founded around the 9th-10th century AD by the inhabitants of the ancient Roman port of Turris Lybisonis (current Porto Torres

Porto Torres

), who sought refuge in the mainland to escape the Saracen

Saracen

Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...

attacks from the sea.

It developed from the merger of a number of separate villages, such as San Pietro di Silki, San Giacomo di Taniga, San Giovanni di Bosove. The oldest mention of a village called Tathari is in an 1113 document in the archive of the Monastery of St. Peter in Silki. Sassari was sacked by the Genoese in 1166. Immigration continued until, in the early 13th century, it was the most populous city in the Giudicato of Torres, and its last capital. After the assassination of the latter's last ruler (1274), Sassari became subject to the Republic of Pisa

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...

with a semi-independent status.

In 1284 the Pisans were defeated by the Genoese

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

fleet at the Battle of Meloria, and the city was able to free itself: it became the first and only early independendant renaissance city-state of Sardinia, with statutes of its own, allied to Genoa; the Genoese were pleased to see it thus withdrawn from Pisan control. Its statutes of 1316 are remarkable for the leniency of the penalties imposed when compared with the penal laws of the Middle Ages.

From 1323 the Republic of Sassari was taken over by the Empire of the king of Aragon, in whose hands it remained for much of the following centuries, though the population revolted at least three times. The revolts ceased when King Alfonso V of Aragon

Alfonso V of Aragon

Alfonso the Magnanimous KG was the King of Aragon , Valencia , Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica , and Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416 and King of Naples from 1442 until his death...

nominated the town as a Royal Burg, directly ruled by the King and free from feudal taxation. Further attempts made by the Genoa

Republic of Genoa

to conquer the city failed. In 1391 it was conquered by Brancaleone Doria

Brancaleone Doria

Brancaleone Doria was the husband of Eleanor of Arborea. He was a scion of an influential family of the Republic of Genoa, the son of the elder Brancaleone and a woman named Giacomina...

and Marianus V of Arborea

Marianus V of Arborea

Marianus V was the Judge of Arborea from 1387 until his death. His surname was Doria Cappai de Baux, the last part being a corruption of Bas-Serra...

, of the indeoendent Sardinian Giudicato of Arborea, of which it became the capital. However, in 1420 it fell back into the hands of the Crown of Aragon, replaced by Spain after 1479 on the joining of the Aragonese and Castilian thrones.

During the period of Aragonese/Catalan and then Spanish domination the city was known as Sàsser in Catalan language

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

and Saçer in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

Renaissance

The city alternated years of crisis, featuring economic exploitation, the decrease of the maritime trade, made unsafe by the daily raids of Saracens pirates, political corruption of its rulers, the sacking of Sassari in 1527 by the French, and two plagues in 1528 and 1652, with periods of cultural and economic prosperity. The Jesuits founded the first Sardinian university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

in Sassari in 1562. In the same year the first printing press was introduced and the ideals of Renaissance humanism

Renaissance humanism

Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...

became more widely known. Several artists of the Mannerist and Flemish

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

schools practiced their art in the city.

Modern history

After the end of the Spanish period following the European wars of the early 18th century, the brief period of Austrian

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

rule (1708–1717) was succeeded by domination by the Piemontese, who then took over the Title of Kingdom of Sardinia

Kingdom of Sardinia

The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

(1720–1861). On 28 December 1795 an anti-feudal revolt broke out in the town, led by Giovanni Maria Angioy

Giovanni Maria Angioy

Giovanni Maria Angioy was a Sardinian politician and patriot and to this day he is considered a national hero in Sardinia....

, a Sardinian politician and patriot, who fought against the house of Savoy

House of Savoy

The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

. The city was occupied by troops at the time. The dynasty of the Piemontese King of Sardinia went on to the monarchs of Italy. Sassari, along with the rest of Italy, became part of the newly created Kingdom of Italy.
At the end of 18th century the University

University of Sassari

The University of Sassari is a university located in Sassari, Italy. It was founded in 1562 and is organized in 11 Faculties.The University of Sassari gains the first place in the ranking for the best “medium- sized” italian university, in 2009, by the Censis Research Institute.-History and...

was restored. In 1836, after six hundred years, the medieval walls were partially demolished, allowing the town to expand. New urban plans were developed, on the model of the capital of the new regime's, (Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

), with geometric streets and squares.

Sassari became an important industrial center. In the 19th century it was the second most important town in what was to become the future Italy for the production of leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

, and in 1848 the Sassarese entrepreneur Giovanni Antonio Sanna gained control of the mine at Montevecchio

Montevecchio

Montevecchio is one of the most ancient mining sites in Italy. The site is located in the south west of Sardinia, in the Province of Medio Campidano...

, becoming the third richest man in the new Kingdom of Italia. The first railway was opened in 1872.

In 1877 the old Catalan-Aragonese

Crown of Aragon

castle was demolished, and on the site the "Caserma La Marmora" was built, where the headquarters of "Brigata Sassari

Sassari Mechanized Brigade

* "Sassari" Combat Service Support Battalion in Sassari* 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment in Teulada* 151st Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Sassari" in Cagliari* 152nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Sassari" in Sassari* 5th Engineer Regiment in Macomer...

" is still located. Founded in 1915, it is the only Italian military unit consisting almost exclusively of Sardinian soldiers.

At the end of the 19th century new urban developments grew on Cappuccini Hill and to the south of the city, architecturally dominated by Eclecticism

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

, Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

and Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

styles, which created a movement towards the hybrid experimentation of new local architectural styles, known as the Sassarese Liberty.

During the Fascist dictatorship the town had over fifty thousand inhabitants and new neighbourhoods were built, the most important of these being Monte Rosello and Porcellana, typical examples of Rationalist Architecture

Fascist architecture

Rationalist-Fascist architecture was an Italian architectural style developed during the fascism regime and in particular starting from the late 1920s. It was promoted and practiced initially by the Gruppo 7 group, whose architects included Luigi Figini, Guido Frette, Sebastiano Larco, Gino...

. On the other hand, the newspaper La Nuova Sardegna
La Nuova Sardegna
La Nuova Sardegna is an Italian local daily newspaper, based in Sassari, Italy.-History:It was founded in 1891 by Enrico Berlinguer, grandfather and namesake of Enrico Berlinguer, national secretary of Italian Communist Party....

, which considered subversive, was closed down.

During the Second World War three Allied attempts to bomb the town failed: only the railway station was damaged, and there was only one casualty.

Today Sassari is the main cultural, administrative and historical centre of Northern Sardinia.

University

The University of Sassari

University of Sassari

is the oldest in Sardinia (founded by the Jesuits

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

in 1562-1627), and has a high reputation, especially in Jurisprudence, Veterinary, Medicine and Agriculture. Its libraries contain a number of ancient documents, among them the condaghe
Condaghe
A condaghe , from the medieval Sardinian kondake , was an administrative document in use in Sardinia between the 11th and 13th centuries...

s, Sardinia's first legal codes and the first documents written in the Sardinian language

Sardinian language

Sardinian is a Romance language spoken and written on most of the island of Sardinia . It is considered the most conservative of the Romance languages in terms of phonology and is noted for its Paleosardinian substratum....

(11th century) and the famous Carta de Logu

Carta de Logu

The Carta de Logu was legal code of the Giudicato of Arborea promulgated by the giudicessa Eleanor in 1392. It was in force in Sardinia until it was superseded by the code of Charles Felix in April 1827....

(the constitution issued by Marianus IV of Arborea

Marianus IV of Arborea

Marianus IV , called the Great, was the Giudice of Arborea from 1347 to his death. He was, as his nickname indicates, the greatest sovereign of Arborea. He was a legislator and a warrior whose reign saw the commencement of massive codification of the laws of his realm and incessant warfare with the...

and updated later by his daughter the Giudichessa Eleanor of Arborea

Eleanor of Arborea

Eleanor ; 1347 – 1404) was the giudicessa of Arborea from 1383 to her death. She was one of the last — and most powerful and significant — Sardinian judges; as well as the island's most renowned heroine....

) in the 14th century .

The University of Sassari gained first place in 2009 in the ranking for the best “medium-sized” Italian university, awarded by the Censis Research Institute.

Language

Sassarese

Sassarese is an Italo-Dalmatian language and transitional between Corsican and Sardinian. It is regarded as a Corsican–Sardinian language because of Sassari's historic ties with Tuscany and Corsica...

(Sassaresu or Turritanu) is much closer to Corsican

Corsican language

Corsican is a Italo-Dalmatian Romance language spoken and written on the islands of Corsica and northern Sardinia . Corsican is the traditional native language of the Corsican people, and was long the vernacular language alongside the Italian, official language in Corsica until 1859, which was...

than it is to Sardinian

Sardinian

Sardinian can refer to:* Sardinia* Sardinian people* Sardinian language* Sardinian...

, although this fact has caused some political controversy. It is a mixed language, its core being the Sardinian formerly spoken in the area, which was close to the Corsican of southern Corsica, with super-stata influence from Pisan (Pisano

Tuscan dialect

The Tuscan language , or the Tuscan dialect is an Italo-Dalmatian language spoken in Tuscany, Italy.Standard Italian is based on Tuscan, specifically on its Florentine variety...

) and Ligurian (Genoan

Ligurian language (Romance)

Ligurian is a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of France, Monaco and in the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia. Genoese , spoken in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is its most important dialect...

), due to the long late medieval contacts with the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa, and Catalan

Catalan language

and Spanish

Spanish language

. A strong substrata current of Sardinian (Logudorese

Sardo logudorese

Logudorese Sardinian is a standardised variety of Sardinian, often considered the most conservative of all Romance languages. Its ISO 639-3 code is src....

) influence can also be felt in its phonetics, syntax, and vocabulary.

Sassarese is spoken in Sassari and its immediate area by approximately 120,000 people out a total population of 175,000 inhabitants; it is also the language of the north-west of Sardinia, including Stintino

Stintino

Stintino is a coastal comune in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 200 km north of Cagliari and about 35 km northwest of Sassari....

, Sorso

Sorso

Sorso is a comune of c. 14,700 inhabitants in the province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 8 km north of Sassari.-Overview:...

and Porto Torres

Porto Torres

; in the mid-northern areas of Sardinia, its Castellanesi dialects 'transit' into Gallurese

Gallurese

Gallurese is a Italo-Dalmatian Romance language spoken in the northeastern part of Sardinia. It is often considered as a variety of Corsican, or a transitional language between Corsican and Sardinian....

, particularly in Castelsardo

Castelsardo

Castelsardo is a town and comune in Sardinia, Italy, located in the northwest of the island within the Province of Sassari.-History:Archaeological excavations have showed the human presence in the area of Castelsardo since pre-Nuragic and Nuragic times, as well as during the Roman domination in...

, Tergu

Tergu

Tergu is a comune in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 190 km north of Cagliari and about 20 km northeast of Sassari in the Anglona historical regiona....

and Sedini

Sedini

Sedini is a comune in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 180 km north of Cagliari and about 25 km northeast of Sassari. It is part of the Anglona traditional subregion....

Main sights

Archeological site of Monte d'Accoddi
Monte d'Accoddi
Monte d'Accoddi is an archaeological site in northern Sardinia, between Sassari and Porto Torres.It is the site of a megalithic structure dated to around 2700=2000 BC and discovered in 1954....

: a unique prehistoric monument with a Step pyramid
Step pyramid
Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout history, in several locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and made of several layers of stone...

construction
The Pisan City Walls that in the 13th century surrounded the city with 36 towers (which at the moment only 6 remains), and the Catalan-Aragonese
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

Castle named Castello di Sassari, demolished in 1877, whose ruins, including some rooms, the basement, and part of a tower were rediscovered in 2008.
The church of St. Peter in Silki, built in the 12th century but renovated in the 17th century. Here were found the medieval codes known as Condaghe di san Pietro in Silki.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the main street of the medieval town, surrounded by interesting buildings of different ages, as several examples of Catalan-gothic (as the so-called House of Re Enzo
Enzio of Sardinia
Enzio was an illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II and King of Sardinia.-Life:...

), the baroque church of Sant' Andrea, built by Corsican community, the neoclassic Civic Theatre and Quesada's palace.
The Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Bari, built in the 13th century and enlarged in Catalan Gothic style from 1480; there is a monument to the Duca di Moriana inside. The façade, belonging to the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

Spanish colonial restorations of 1650–1723, has a rectangular portico surmounted by three niches housing statues of saints. The bell tower is in Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

style.
The church and monastery of Santa Maria di Bètlem (13th-19th century). The original façade and parts of monastery are in Lombard Romanesque style, some chapels in International Gothic
International Gothic
International Gothic is a phase of Gothic art which developed in Burgundy, Bohemia, France and northern Italy in the late 14th century and early 15th century...

, while the rest of building, include the big dome, was rebuilt in Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

and Neoclassic
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

style, by the Sardinian architect Antonio Cano in 1829-34.
The Church of the Most Blessed Trinity contains a beautiful picture by an unknown artist of the Quattrocento.
Palazzo D'Usini, most important example of civilian architecture of the Renaissance period in Sardinia (now housing the main Public Library, therefore open to visits from the public).
The Fountain of the Rosello
Fountain of the Rosello
The Fountain of the Rosello is a fountain in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy, considered the symbol of the city.It is located at the end of the Rosello valley next to the ancient town of the city.- History :...

, built in 1606 by Genoese craftsmen. It is made by two squared parts surmounted by two crossing arches supporting the statue of St. Gavino.
University Palace (17th-20th century), originally a Jesuit school.
The Ducal Palace (current Town Hall, 1775–1806), built for the Duke of the Asinara in the 18th century.
Piazza d'Italia (19th century) is the main square in Sassari. It is surrounded by interesting buildings such as the Neogothic "Palazzo Giordano" and the neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

"Palace of Sassari's Province", where the ancient royal apartments of the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

were once located.

Museums

National Archaeological and Ethnographic "G.A. Sanna" Museum

National Pinacotheca "Mus'A"

Historical Museum of "Brigata Sassari
Sassari Mechanized Brigade
* "Sassari" Combat Service Support Battalion in Sassari* 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment in Teulada* 151st Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Sassari" in Cagliari* 152nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Sassari" in Sassari* 5th Engineer Regiment in Macomer...

"

Museum of Science and Technology (it is constituted by many collections located in several university faculties: mineralogical, botanic
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, Entomological, zoological, anatomical collection "Luigi Rolando
Luigi Rolando
Luigi Rolando was an Italian anatomist.As a University of Turin professor, he devoted his life in studying brain anatomy.The Substantia gelatinosa of Rolando and the fissure of Rolando are named for him.-External links:*...

", physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

and agronomic collection)

Ethnographic Museum "Francesco Bande"

Contemporary Art Museum "Masedu"

Museum and Treasury of the Cathedral

Museum of History of Sassari

Museum of Sassari's Diocese

Museum of Candelieri

Mario Sironi
Mario Sironi
Mario Sironi was an Italian modernist artist who was active as a painter, sculptor, illustrator, and designer. His typically somber paintings are characterized by massive, immobile forms.-Biography:...

art collection

Art gallery "Giuseppe Biasi
Giuseppe Biasi
Giuseppe Biasi was an Italian painter.-Biography:While pursuing classical studies in accordance with his family’s wishes, Biasi became well known in his hometown for caricatures published in local humorous journals when he was still very young...

"

Pavilion of Sardinian handicraft EXPO "I.S.O.L.A."

Festivals and Traditions

The Cavalcata Sarda (the Sardinian Cavalcade); the a main event in Sardinia, on the last Sunday of May thousands of people come from all over Sardinia to Sassari to parade through the city in their local folk costumes on foot and riding on hundreds of the best Sardinian horses.

The Faradda di li candareri (the Candle Holders): it's a devotional procession, in which enormous wooden candles are carried by members of the city guilds from the town centre to the church of Santa Maria of Betlem, in commemoration of the end of the plague in 1582, but it probably has older origins, from a cultural tradition from Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

that as early as in the second half of the 13th century was practiced in some parts of Sardinia.

Sardinia Film Festival was founded in 2006. With 500 films, short subjects, animated cartoons and documentaries in 2009, it has become the most prominent film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

in Sardinia.

Notable people

Notable people born here include the former presidents of the Italian Republic

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

, Antonio Segni

Antonio Segni

Antonio Segni was an Italian politician who was the 35th Prime Minister of Italy , and the fourth President of the Italian Republic from 1962 to 1964...

and Francesco Cossiga

Francesco Cossiga

Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....

, and Enrico Berlinguer

Enrico Berlinguer

Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician; he was national secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.-Early career:...

, secretary of the Italian Communist Party

Italian Communist Party

The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...

.

Sassari is also the birthplace of Domenico Alberto Azuni

Domenico Alberto Azuni

Domenico Alberto Azuni was an Italian jurist.- Biography :He was born at Sassari, in Sardinia. He studied law at Sassari and Turin, and in 1782 was made judge of the consulate at Nice. In 1786-1788 he published his Dizionario Universale Ragionato della Giurisprudenza Mercantile...

, a jurist expert in commercial law.

Personalities associated with Sassari

Notable Historical Personages

Salvatore Alepus
Salvatore Alepus
Salvatore Alessio Alepus was an Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop, who ruled the archdiocese of Sassari in the sixteenth century.-Biography:...

, theologist and poet (Morilla - Valencia)
Edina Altara
Edina Altara
Edina Altara was an Italian illustrator, decorator and fashion designer from Sassari. In the thirties she was devoted to ceramics, fashion and decoration...

, artist
Giovanni Maria Angioy
Giovanni Maria Angioy
Giovanni Maria Angioy was a Sardinian politician and patriot and to this day he is considered a national hero in Sardinia....

, politician
Efisio Arru
Domenico Alberto Azuni
Domenico Alberto Azuni
Domenico Alberto Azuni was an Italian jurist.- Biography :He was born at Sassari, in Sardinia. He studied law at Sassari and Turin, and in 1782 was made judge of the consulate at Nice. In 1786-1788 he published his Dizionario Universale Ragionato della Giurisprudenza Mercantile...

, jurist
Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician; he was national secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.-Early career:...

, leader of Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
Mario Berlinguer
Mario Berlinguer
Mario Berlinguer was an Italian lawyer and politician. He descended from a noble Sardinian family.Born in Sassari, in his youth he was a follower of the Meridionalist activist Gaetano Salvemini...

, politician
Giuseppe Biasi
Giuseppe Biasi
Giuseppe Biasi was an Italian painter.-Biography:While pursuing classical studies in accordance with his family’s wishes, Biasi became well known in his hometown for caricatures published in local humorous journals when he was still very young...

, painter
Daniel Bovet
Daniel Bovet
Daniel Bovet was a Swiss-born Italian pharmacologist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of drugs that block the actions of specific neurotransmitters. He is best known for his discovery in 1937 of antihistamines, which block the neurotransmitter histamine and...

, biochemist (nobel prize)
Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino was an Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy , the Cosmicomics collection of short stories , and the novels Invisible Cities and If on a winter's night a traveler .Lionised in Britain and the United States,...

, writer
Luigi Canepa, composer and orchestra conductor
Antonio Cano, architect
Giacomo Camilla, artist
Annunzio Cervi, poet
Francesco Cetti
Francesco Cetti
Francesco Cetti was an Italian Jesuit priest, zoologist and mathematician.Cetti was born in Mannheim in Germany, but his parents were natives of Como. He was educated in Lombardy and at the Jesuit college at Monza. In 1765 he was sent to Sardinia to help improve the standard of education on the...

,
Fernando Clemente, architect
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....

, President of the Italian Republic
President of the Italian Republic
The President of the Italian Republic is the head of state of Italy and, as such, is intended to represent national unity and guarantee that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The president's term of office lasts for seven years....
Enrico Costa
Enrico Costa
Enrico Costa is an Italian bobsledder who competed from 1994 to the early 2000s. He won a gold medal in the two-man event at the 1999 FIBT World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo....

, writer
Giovanni del Giglio
Giovanni del Giglio
Giovanni del Giglio was an Italian painter known as the Maestro di Ozieri.-Biography:...

(Sassari, 15th century – Sassari, 1554) painter AKA Maestro di Ozieri.
Giovanni Fara, historian and writer
Alessio Fontana, member of Imperial Chancellery of Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
Vico Mossa
Vico Mossa
Vico Mossa was an Italian architect and writer. He is best known for his buildings in Sassari, notably the restoration of the Teatro Civico, Palazzo Bosazza, Hotel Turritana, Palazzo dell'Upim, Chiesa di San Vincenzo, and Collegio Marianum on the Piazza Duomo...

, architect
Costantino Nivola
Costantino Nivola
Costantino Nivola was an Italian sculptor. He is the grandfather of actor Alessandro Nivola.- Birth and upbringing :...

, artist
Antonio Pigliaru
Antonio Pigliaru
Antonio Pigliaru was a Sardinian jurist and philosopher. He was the most important Sardinian intellectual of the second half of the twentieth century, and one of the most vivid contemporary Italian thinkers...

,
Luigi Rolando
Luigi Rolando
Luigi Rolando was an Italian anatomist.As a University of Turin professor, he devoted his life in studying brain anatomy.The Substantia gelatinosa of Rolando and the fissure of Rolando are named for him.-External links:*...

, anatomist
Roberto Ruffilli, politician
Giovanni Antonio Sanna, politician
Aligi Sassu
Aligi Sassu
Aligi Sassu was an Italian painter and sculptor.-Biography:Aligi Sassu was born in Milan, Lombardy, into a Sardinian-origin family. His father Antonio was one of the founders of the Italian Socialist Party at Sassari in 1894, and had moved to Milan in 1896, where he had married Lina Pedretti in...

, painter
Antonio Segni
Antonio Segni
Antonio Segni was an Italian politician who was the 35th Prime Minister of Italy , and the fourth President of the Italian Republic from 1962 to 1964...

, President of the Italian Republic
President of the Italian Republic
The President of the Italian Republic is the head of state of Italy and, as such, is intended to represent national unity and guarantee that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The president's term of office lasts for seven years....
Mario Sironi
Mario Sironi
Mario Sironi was an Italian modernist artist who was active as a painter, sculptor, illustrator, and designer. His typically somber paintings are characterized by massive, immobile forms.-Biography:...

, painter of creator of the Novecento
Giovanni Spano
Giovanni Spano
Giovanni Spano , also a priest and a linguist, is considered one of the first archaeologists to study the Mediterranean island of Sardinia....

, writer
Eugenio Tavolara
Eugenio Tavolara
Eugenio Tavolara was an artist born in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy, with interests in many disciplines. He is well known for his hand-crafted "toys", most prominently small statues in terracotta representing Sardinians in traditional costumes. In a 2007 tribute exhibition, 14 Sardian artists...

, artist
Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Togliatti was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death.-Early life:...

, leader of Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
Efisio Tola, patriot
Pasquale Tola
Pasquale Tola
Pasquale Tola was an Italian magistrate, politician and historian.He studied in Sassari, where he obtained a degree in theology and jurisprudence and also followed courses in philosophy and fine arts. In 1848 he was part of the ministerial working group in Sardinia. He was in favor of the...

, politician and magistrate
Tomaso Vercellotti
Tomaso Vercellotti
Tomaso Vercellotti MD, DDS is an Italian Medical Doctor, Doctor of Dentistry and the inventor of the Piezosurgical procedure and Piezosurgery Device. Tomaso Vercellotti was born in Sassari Italy.Dr...

, inventor of piezosurgery
Piezosurgery
The process was developed by Tomaso Vercellotti and has been patented. It is indicated for use in oral, maxillofacial, cranial and spinal procedures.Piezosurgical is a process that utilizes piezoelectric vibrations in the application of cutting bone tissue...
Michel Zanche, politician, he was named by Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...

in the Divina Commedia... "With him is his cohort Michel Zanche of Logodoro
Logudoro
The Logudoro is a large traditional region in central-northern Sardinia, Italy. The local dialect is known as Logudorese.Mostly composed of soft volcanic terrains, it is the most fertile area of the island. For this reason it was settled since early Prehistoric times, as shown by the presence of...

, and their tongues never tire with constant chatter about Sardinia".

Contemporary personalities

Gavino Angius
Gavino Angius
Gavino Angius is an Italian politician.-Biography:Born at Sassari , after the degree in Political Sciences, he became a member of the Italian Communist Party , for which he was secretary of his city's section...

, leader of Democratici di Sinistra now leader of Partito Socialista
Gian Paolo Bazzoni, writer
Marco Bazzoni, actor
Bianca Berlinguer, director of TG3
TG3
TG3 is the brand for Italian state-owned TV channel Rai Tre's news programmes. They are shown domestically on Rai Tre and across the Europe on Rai News 24 and the world on Raitalia several times throughout the day...

RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
Giovanni Berlinguer
Giovanni Berlinguer
Giovanni Berlinguer , Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian politician and Professor of Social Medicine.He was born in Sassari, Sardinia, the son of Mario Berlinguer...

, one of the main members of Democratici di Sinistra
Luigi Berlinguer, Minister of Istruzione, and member of Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura
Sergio Berlinguer, politician
Elisabetta Canalis
Elisabetta Canalis
-Career:Canalis had minor roles in the films Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and Virgin Territory. She was also a velina in the television show Striscia la notizia. In 2007, she hosted the annual music festival, Festivalbar. In 2009, she co-hosted the Italian version of Total Request Live. In 2010,...

, actress and television host
Bruno Dettori
Bruno Dettori
Bruno Dettori is an Italian politician .He graduated in agricultural science and gained experience of teaching abroad for two academic years at the Faculty of Agriculture in Asmara, Eritrea and became the author of 40 publications and research on national and international journals related to...

, politician
Antonello Grimaldi
Antonello Grimaldi
Antonio Luigi Grimaldi, known as Antonello Grimaldi is an Italian actor, film and television director, and screenwriter.-Biography:Grimaldi was born on 14 August 1955 in Sassari,...

, film director
Santi Licheri, TV personality, judge of Forum
Pier Francesco Loche, actor
Giovanni Maciocco, architect
Luigi Manconi, Former Leader of Federation of the Greens
Federation of the Greens
The Federation of the Greens is a green political party in Italy, which includes also a large eco-socialist faction. Since 2009 the party leader is Angelo Bonelli.-Early years:...
Salvatore Mannuzzu, writer
Angelo Mundula, poet
Adolfo Orrù, painter
Arturo Parisi
Arturo Parisi
Arturo Parisi is an Italian politician, leader of the Ulivist faction of the Democratic Party and four-time member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies...

, Former minister of Difesa
Ministero della Difesa
Ministero della Difesa is the Italian Ministry of Defence. It is responsible for military and civil defence, and also for weather forecasts.Giampaolo Di Paola is currently Italy's deputy defense minister.-External links:*...

and member of Margherita
Pino & gli anticorpi, acting company
Gianluca Piredda, writer and screenwriter
Giuseppe Pisanu
Giuseppe Pisanu
Giuseppe Pisanu is an Italian politician, longtime member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Christian Democracy and then for Forza Italia...

, Former Italian Minister of the Interior
Italian Minister of the Interior
This is a list of Italian Ministers of the Interior since 1861.-Kingdom of Italy:-Italian Republic:...

and now president of Antimafia Commission
Antimafia Commission
The Italian Antimafia Commission is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate . The Antimafia Commission is a commission of inquiry into, initially, the “phenomenon of the Mafia”...
Bianca Pitzorno, writer
Giovanni Puggioni
Giovanni Puggioni
Giovanni Puggioni is an Italian retired sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres.Puggioni was born in Sassari, Sardinia. His personal best 200 metres time is 20.44 seconds, achieved at the 1997 Mediterranean Games in Bari. His personal best 100 metres time is 10.36 seconds, achieved in July 1995...

, runner
Mario Segni
Mario Segni
Mariotto Segni, more often known as Mario, is an Italian politician, son of Antonio Segni, one time President of the Republic of Italy....

, member of European parliament
Tazenda
Tazenda
Tazenda is an Italian ethnic pop-rock band. The group was formed in Sardinia in 1988 by Andrea Parodi, Gigi Camedda and Gino Marielli. The group's music is characterized by the influence from traditional Sardinian music; the lyrics of most of its songs are in the Logudorese dialect of the Sardinian...

, ethno-pop-rock band
Tressardi, acting company

Demographics

In 2007, there were 128,611 people residing in Sassari, of whom 61,944 were male and 66,667 were female. The population is increased of 9,519 inhabitants in the last 7 years (2001–2008).

Birth rate = 8,2 births/1000 inhabitants;
Total fertility rate = 1,15 births/1000 inhabitants;
Mortality rate = 7,9 deaths/1000 inhabitants.

Migration

The town has increased its population considerably, in the last decades, due to domestic migrations, of thousands of Sardinians come from inland regions of the island.
In 2008, 98,4% of population of town was Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

, 1,978 residents were foreign immigrants.

The main foreign nationalities residing in Sassari are: - 270 - 259 - 71 - 66 - 66 - 57 - 44 - 35 - 34 - 32

Administration

The Municipal Council of Sassari is led by a left-wing majority, first elected in May 2005 and confirmed in 2010. The mayor is Gianfranco Ganau, member of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (Italy)

The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....

Administrative subdivision

The Municipality of Sassari is subdivided into 6 Circoscrizioni (administrative districts).

Circoscrizioni	Population	Quarters included
1° Circoscrizione	21,070	Historical Centre, Bancali, Caniga, La Landrigga
2° Circoscrizione	30,822	Latte dolce, Li Punti, San Giovanni, Ottava, Sant'Orsola
3° Circoscrizione	46,247	Monte Rosello, Cappuccini, Luna e Sole, Lu Fangazzu
4° Circoscrizione	27,966	Carbonazzi, San Giuseppe, Porcellana, Rizzeddu
5° Circoscrizione	1,816	Tottubella, La Corte, Campanedda
6° Circoscrizione	1,284	Argentiera, Biancareddu, La Pedraia, Baratz, Canaglia, Palmadula, Villa Assunta

Economy

The economy of town is, mainly, focused on services and advanced tertiary. It is the principle administrative centre of central and northern Sardinia. The main Sardinian banks (Banco di Sardegna

Banco di Sardegna

The Banco di Sardegna S.p.A. is a bank headquartered in Sassari, Italy and operating primarily on the island of Sardinia, with offices also in Lombardy, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Liguria and Latium....

and Banca di Sassari) have head office and presidency in the city.

Several research centers are located in town, as the University ones, the Center of Regional Weather Service (Meteo Sar.), the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA), the Zooprophylaxis Institute of Sardinia, many labs of the National Research Center (CNR

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

The Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche or National Research Council, is an Italian public organization set up to support scientific and technological research. Its headquarters are in Rome.-History:The institution was founded in 1923...

), as the Institute of Biometeorology (IBIMET), the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (ISE), the Institute of sciences of food production (ISPA), the Institute for animal production system in mediterranean environment (ISPAAM).

Manufacturing system is based on construction, pharmaceutical, food, typographic industry, but, also, indirectly, on petrochemical and oil refineries, located in Porto Torres

Porto Torres

.

Tourism is concentrated, mainly, along the coasts. Platamona

Platamona

Platamona is a coastal area in northern Sardinia, located along the Gulf of Asinara, in the municipality of Sassari, between the commune of Sorso and Porto Torres....

, Porto Ferro, Porto Palmas and Argentiera

Argentiera

Argentiera is a Ghost town and a frazione in the comune of Sassari, in Sardinia, Italy. It is far 43 km from Sassari. It is located in a narrow valley, in front of the Sardinian Sea.-History:...

are the principal seaside turist spots of municipality.

Transportation

The nearest airport, Fertilia International Airport

Fertilia Airport

Alghero Airport is an international airport situated north-northwest of the city of Alghero, in northern Sardinia, Italy. It is also known as Fertilia Airport or Alghero-Fertilia Airport, named for the nearby village of Fertilia...

, is 25 km from the city.

The closest seaport is located at Porto Torres

Porto Torres

, 16 km from the town.

Urban and Suburban Public Transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

is operated by 23 bus lines of Azienda Trasporti Pubblici (ATP) and by a light rail transit

Sassari Tram-train

The Sassari Tram-train also known as the Sassari metro-tramway is a tram-train system in Sassari, Italy...

of Ferrovie della Sardegna

Ferrovie della Sardegna

The Ferrovie della Sardegna , know also as ARST Gestione FdS and with the acronym FdS, is the regional railway network, in the island of Sardinia, Italy....

(FdS).

Two different railway companies connect the town to the rest of island, Trenitalia

Trenitalia

Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. Trenitalia is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato, itself owned by the Italian Government. It was created in 2000 following the EU directive on the deregulation of rail transport.-Passenger transport:...

links Sassari to Porto Torres

Porto Torres

, Oristano

Oristano

Oristano is a town and comune, capital of the Province of Oristano, on the island of Sardinia, Italy. It has approximately 32,500 inhabitants.Its economy is mainly based on fishing, agriculture and, to a certain extent, tourism.-History:...

, Cagliari

Cagliari

, Olbia

Olbia

Olbia is a town and comune of 56,231 inhabitants in northeastern Sardinia , in the Gallura sub-region. Called Olbia in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle Ages and Terranova Pausania before the 1940s, Olbia was again the official name of the town after the period of Fascism.-Geography:It is the...

, Golfo Aranci

Golfo Aranci

Golfo Aranci is a comune in the Province of Olbia-Tempio in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 200 km north of Cagliari and about 13 km northeast of Olbia.-History:...

, the FdS

Ferrovie della Sardegna

The Ferrovie della Sardegna , know also as ARST Gestione FdS and with the acronym FdS, is the regional railway network, in the island of Sardinia, Italy....

reach Alghero

Alghero

Alghero , is a town of about 44,000 inhabitants in Italy. It lies in the province of Sassari in northwestern Sardinia, next to the sea.-History:The area of today's Alghero has been settled since pre-historic times...

, Sorso

Sorso

Sorso is a comune of c. 14,700 inhabitants in the province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 8 km north of Sassari.-Overview:...

, Nulvi

Nulvi

Nulvi is a comune in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 180 km north of Cagliari and about 20 km northeast of Sassari. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,983 and an area of 67.7 km².Nulvi borders the following municipalities:...

and Palau

Palau (OT)

Palau is a comune in the Province of Olbia-Tempio in the Italian region Sardinia, about 220 km north of Cagliari and about 30 km northwest of Olbia. It was a frazione of the comune of Tempio Pausania until 1959.It is in Punta Sardegna, and was founded in 1875 by local...

.

Sassari is linked to Porto Torres

Porto Torres

and Cagliari

Cagliari

by freeway SS131
Strada statale 131 Charles Felix
The Strada statale 131 , is the major road in Sardinia, Italy. It is a freeway which connects the towns of Porto Torres and Cagliari via Sassari, Macomer and Oristano...

, to Alghero by the freeway SS291. High-capacity traffic roads connect Sassari to Tempio Pausania

Tempio Pausania

Tempio Pausania is a town c. 14,000 inhabitants in the Gallura region of northern Sardinia, Italy, the administrative capital of the province of Olbia-Tempio.- History :...

(SS672) and Olbia

Olbia

(SS199).

Sports

A.S.D. Torres Calcio football club, founded in 1903, playing in Eccellenza
Sassari Torres Calcio Femminile women's football club, playing in Serie A
Dinamo Basket Sassari
Dinamo Basket Sassari
Dinamo Basket Sassari is an Italian professional basketball club based in Sassari, Sardinia.The club plays in the Italian Serie A, the highest level club competition in Italian professional basketball....

, playing in Lega Basket Serie A
Yellow Team Sassari Baseball, playing in Serie C1
Sassari Baseball Softball Club, playing in serie C2
HC Tangram 1 Sassari women's team handball club, playing in Serie A1
A.S.D.Rugby Sassari, playing in Serie C

Twin towns - sister cities

Sassari is twinned

Town twinning

Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

with: Timişoara

Timisoara

Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...

, Romania, since 1990 Gubbio

Gubbio

Gubbio is a town and comune in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia . It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. See also Mount Ingino Christmas Tree.-History:...

, Italy, since 2002 Viterbo

Viterbo

See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...

, Italy, since 2006 Nola

Nola

Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines...

, Italy, since 2006 Palmi

Palmi

Palmi is a comune of about 19.303 inhabitants in the province of Reggio Calabria in Calabria. It is the second largest municipality by population in the province and the seat of the district which includes 33 municipalities with a population of about 170,000 inhabitants.With the nearby beaches of...

, Italy since 2006 Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Spain, since 2010

External links

On Line Guide

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