Top 8 Castles in Sud Sardegna

The Palazzo della Direzione building stands out in the midst of a now-abandoned village surrounded by nature; it is as contradictory as it is fascinating.

According to legend, the Acquafredda Castle was built by the Gherardesca family, Counts of Donoratico, when they acquired southeastern Sardinia. In fact, in 1257, the fortress came into the possession of Ugolino of Donoratico, lord of the Cagliarani territory, immortalized by Dante in Canto 23 of the Inferno. However, the castle is older, as it is already mentioned in a papal bull of 1215. After Ugolino's death (1288), it passed into the possession of Pisa, then to the Aragonese (1324), and subsequently to several feudal lords until it was redeemed by Victor Amadeus III (1785). From the top of a mountain, the castle dominates the territory of Siliqua, four kilometers away. Climbing its slopes, the view sweeps from the green valley of the Cixerri to Cagliari, from the Marmilla to the Iglesias area. At dawn and dusk, their shadows extend across the valley.

The language of the Tabarchians essentially corresponds to the Ligurian language of the 15th century. Through personal and trade connections - both from Tunisia and from the island of San Pietro - it has developed just as much as the actual Ligurian and Genoese languages. Due to its geographical location, the port of Carloforte was of considerable importance in shipping and as a transshipment point for medium tonnage until the beginning of the 19th century. Carlofortine Ligurian preserves some nouns and rare grammatical forms that only occur in the outdated Genoese. It does not contain any Gallicisms that Genoese has adopted in recent centuries; for example, the accent (còccina) is typical of Pegli and not of pure Genoese. Only a few nouns from Sardinian, Arabic and Tuscan can be identified as external influences. More than 80 percent of the population still speak this dialect in everyday life today. The architecture, culture, customs and traditions of Carloforte still correspond to those of Liguria. Because of its historical, economic and cultural ties with the Ligurian capital, and in particular with Pegli, Carloforte was recognized as an honorary municipality of the province of Genoa on 10 November 2004. In 2006, the neighboring municipality of Calasetta received the same honor. Carloforte celebrates twin festivities with Pegli every year.

The population, also known as Tabarchini because of their origins, united the towns of Carloforte on the island of San Pietro and the neighbouring municipality of Calasetta on the nearby island of Sant'Antioco. A small number of the emigrants from Tabarca headed towards the Spanish coast in Alicante and founded the town of Nueva Tabarca. This colony has retained some of the original surnames, but has been absorbed by the Spanish-speaking community in terms of language and customs. The Tabarchini are scattered all over the world, mainly in Genoa, on the Ligurian coast, in Gibraltar, in Boca near Buenos Aires and in other port cities. They are estimated to number 18,000 people in total.

In 1542, the inhabitants of Pegli and the neighbouring communities left their home on the Ligurian coast in the wake of the Lomellini, a powerful trading family from Pegli and Genoa, and settled on the island of Tabarca off the coast of Tunisia, where they dived for coral until 1735. When coral mining and thus the tribute to the Lomellini continued to decline and was no longer profitable for all sides, and the conflicts with the Muslims intensified, King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy, on the initiative of the Piedmontese architect Augusto de la Vallée, made the offer to settle the still uninhabited island of San Pietro. A part of the Tabarchini under the leadership of Agostino Tagliafico accepted the offer and settled on the island off Sardinia in 1738. In honour of the king, they named the new place Carloforte ("Charles the Strong"). Over time, other emigrant families arrived directly from Liguria and helped to strengthen the small, emerging community. In 1798, Carloforte was attacked by pirates and around 900 inhabitants were captured and held as slaves in Tunis; one of them became the mother of Bey Ahmad I al-Husain. After five years, they were finally able to be ransomed. The parts of the old city wall and the fortress that are still preserved today are evidence of this barbarian invasion.

Carloforte (Ligurian: U Pàize) is an Italian municipality in the province of Sulcis Iglesiente in the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. It essentially comprises the island of San Pietro about 10 km off the southwest coast of Sardinia and some other insignificant islets of the Sulcis archipelago. The small town with 5983 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2022) is the only settlement on the island of San Pietro.

Great view. You can also visit the ruins (for a small fee).

Torre Porto Giunco 👍💪🇮🇹