CASTELLO DI SAN MICHELE

Set on the top of one of the seven hills of Cagliari, the castle of St. Michael dominates the north of the town. It was once in the open countryside and it was possible to see the enemies arriving from the Campidano plain or from the sea. The town has grown in size and now overtakes the Castello. The hill was a pagan place of worship under the Romans and the Byzantines, before a monastery of the Order of St. Michael settled there. In the 10th century, during the Judaic Era, a sentry tower was erected on the site of the abandoned monastery. When the Pisans took Cagliari, they reinforced the structure by laying foundations. In the 13th century, two towers were added on the eastern flank. The fourth tower was added by the Aragonese and Berengario Carroz who received the hill in fief from the King of Spain. He undertakes important works from 1325 to transform the place into a fortress and luxurious residence. The castle is renamed Bonvehi because of the breathtaking panorama. The last member of this family to live here was the Countess Violante, whose ghost is said to still haunt the corridors of the castle. The castle fell into disuse in the 16th century and became a lazaret during the great plague of Sant'Efisio in 1652. It was abandoned again for a century and then equipped with cannons in 1793 to prevent the invasion of Napoleon's army. The fortress later became a private residence and then a telegraph station for the Navy. Today it is a cultural centre for contemporary art.