The Devil's Saddle, like the whole promontory of St. Elia, consists of sedimentary rocks of Miocene Epoch, and it is geologically quite young. Inside these rocks, several small caves were formed and inhabited by humans since the sixth millennium BC. The origin of the name comes from a legend, according to which the devils, fascinated by the beauty of the gulf of Cagliari, tried to seize it. Thereafter, God sent his favoured angels led by Archangel Michael, to banish Lucifer and his followers. The battle was fought in the skies over the gulf and today we still have two theories. The best known is that Lucifer, while escaping, was thrown from his horse and lost his seat that remained in the waters of the gulf and turned to stone, giving rise to the promontory. The other theory tells that ,during the battle, the demon fell on the promontory, giving to it the current form. Hence the Devil's Saddle and the Gulf of the Angels names. It is said that the angels, sent by the Almighty, are still faithful to their task and continue to protect the Gulf. Close to the highest point of the promontory (135 m above the sea level), it is supposed the presence of a Punic temple, perhaps a place of worship dedicated to Astarte. Moreover, it is also possible to admire a Punic tank, elongated, with remarkable dimensions: 27 m long and 4.5 m deep. Not far away there is another Roman cistern, from the classic shape of a truncated cone section. According to tradition, in these places, there has been the martyrdom of St. Elia, who has been killed during the persecutions of Diocletian, in the Byzantine period. The whole promontory bears his name today. In the eleventh century the whole area was given to the Victorini monks, who built a real monastery and took care of fish farms, ponds and cultivable areas in the surroundings.

The tower, now almost in ruins, is situated on the highest and panoramic point of the promontory and it is to be considered, however, as a part of the defense and sighting system, created by the Spanish during the sixteenth century. However, it would seem that from the Pisan period there was a tower, known as the "Lantern", with signaling functions. Later, the same tower was also called tower of pouhet, which means catch basin, because it is situated close to the the Roman cistern. The entire area would eventually be called "pouhet", hence the name "Poetto" attributed to the large beach of Cagliari. The coastal towers continued to be used during the Savoy period, since a royal decree of  1867 stipulated that they had no longer to be considered fortified places. During the Second World War were also built a fort and other buildings, which are still visible. In all likelihood, the materials reused were from the ruins of St.Elia church, of which, unfortunately, you can only the perimeter of the foundation.

The Historical Archive of the Municipality of Cagliari was established in 1326 and for the next two centuries in the Cathedral of the City, the place where the Civic Council met.

Over the centuries, documents have long remained unordered; in fact, the first provisions on the matter, issued under the Spanish Viceroys in 1660 and Savoy in 1738 and 1753, did not find practical application. The situation changed when Vittorio Amedeo III, on 10 December 1782, with two Royal Papers established the Archivist Office of the city.

The first reorganization of the documentation was carried out in 1896 by the illustrious palaeographer Silvio Lippi, then director of the Cagliari State Archive, to which the Mayor Ottone Baccaredda conferred the relative assignment.
In 1914 the materials now catalogued flowed into the new Palazzo Civico in Via Roma and at the same time the Municipality appointed director of the Archive Michele Pinna, an illustrious palaeographer and scholar from Cagliari; seven years later the Archive was flanked by the Civic Library, established in 1895.
On February 26, 1943 the bombings of the allied planes hit the Palazzo Civico hard, destroying the shelves and most of the archival and bibliographic documentation; the material suffered further damage forgotten for about three months between mud, dust and rubble.
The documentation was then collected and transported to the Boyl building of the Public Gardens, where it remained stacked until 1946, when the Municipality entrusted the management of the Historical Archive - Civic Library complex to Dr. Evandro Putzulu. This archivist is responsible for the recovery and reordering of both the papers and the bibliographic material.
The Archive complex, the Civic Library - which in the meantime had become a specialist library taking the name of the Municipal Library of Sardinian Studies - remained in this location until 2000, when the Municipality ordered its transfer to the headquarters in via Newton whose inauguration took place January 11, 2001.
Lastly, the Archive was transferred from the headquarters in via Newton to reopen to the public on April 30, 2011 in the MEM - MediaTek of Mediterranean.

THE HERITAGE
The historical archive by type, content and value of the preserved documentation assumes a relevance that goes beyond the mere local area, given the close ties that the city, capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, maintained in the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries with the Iberian motherland. The preserved documents are sorted into four sections, distinguished according to a chronological criterion.

The FIRST SECTION or ANCIENT SECTION includes documents of fundamental importance from the historical and palaeographic point of view, collected in 831 folders. It is a conspicuous collection of parchments and real papers, membranaceous and paper codes that go from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century and which constitute an important testimony of the activities of the Cagliari town hall.

The SECOND SECTION includes documents ranging from the 17th century to 1870, collected and sorted in 802 folders and records.

The THIRD SECTION includes documents, collected in 507 folders and registers, relating to the period from 1871 to 1926. There is also an appendix, collected and ordered in 72 folders, consisting of the documentation relating to the municipalities of Pirri (1790-1870), Pauli Pirri (1871-1924), Monserrato (1853-1924) and Quartucciu (1865-1924), merged into the Municipality of Cagliari when in the fascist era they became hamlets.

Finally, the FOURTH SECTION, ordered in open series, consists of 143 registers, 51 envelopes, 248 files and 4 loose papers, and is related to the period from 1920 to 1964.
Over time, numerous funds received for purchases and donations have been added to this core of documents:
AUTOGRAPHERS FUND (2 folders)
PRINT FUND (198 units)
 
Private funds include:
FEUDAL ARCHIVE AYMERICH relative to the secc. XV-XIX, (318 folders and registers)
MILITARY STATION (26 folders)
TOP CARDS (2 folders)
VIVANET CARDS (4 folders)
GIORDANO CARDS (2 folders).
 
The Manuscript Funds are heterogeneous and rich in historical and cultural curiosities:
Sanjust (62 units), Ballero (19 units), Birocchi (8 units) and Martini (19 units).
The CARTOGRAPHICAL FUND (168 units) and the PHOTOGRAPHIC FUND (1776 units) relating to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are of considerable importance for the study of architecture and town planning.

Quiet, comfortable and informal enough, this is the Sardinia Domus Guesthouse.

The Guesthouse Sardinia Domus is located in an elegant building in the Largo Carlo Felice street, a few tens of meters from the railway station, the port and the bus station urban and suburban. The property was completely renovated in full respect of the original architecture and offers high quality services, in a perfect balance between privacy and a fairly informal environment.

All rooms are bright and comfortable, with private bathroom with shower, hairdryer, TV, wifi and air conditioning, with a daily housekeeping service . The furnishings throughout characterizes all the rooms, some more sober and simple other most charming, satisfying all tastes.

Sardegna Hotel has 84 rooms, including 6 suites, all completely renovated and equiped with luxurious high-tech simplicity mixed with a warm atmosphere.
The richness of the woods, the soothing colors and the pleasure of all the contemporary comforts accentuate the intimacy of the staff, offering to each guest a feeling privileged home".New rooms all to live, full of design and technology, the most stylish comfort and relaxation more private, to feel perfectly at ease.

In our elegant restaurant the flavors of the sea and the fruits of the earth are mixed to taste Sardinian cuisine dishes and classic international cuisine. The authenticity and freshness of the ingredients are combined the creativity of the chef, offering a high quality cuisine inspired by the flavors and scents of the seasons.

B & B Sant'Efisio is a historical building of the "700 restored to the original architectural features, walls, exposed beams and juniper. The property is situated in front of the church in the historic center of Cagliari Sant'Efisio, a few steps from Piazza Yenne central point of the city.

Close to the port of Cagliari and 10 minutes from Elmas (Cagliari).With a wide choice of restaurants, nightlife and shopping streets. We have single rooms, double rooms with all the comforts (ensuite bathroom, TV, mini bar and air conditioning). Furnished with care and elegance with fabrics and carpets of handicraft. 

In the heart of Cagliari on the top floor of an antic apartment building completely restored.
Spacious and well lit spaces, all with high ceilings and exposed timber beams. Luxurious bathroom with a bathtub.
Breakfast is served in a internal little terrace. This is an ideal location for beginning your discovery of this exotic city because you are surrounded by its natural beauty of an ancient castle (the old city) and the nightlife of Cagliari just outside your door. A 5 minute walk from the railway and bus station and the port of Cagliari. Transfer from the airport is available (just 15 minutes).
Also nearly is the famous Gulf of Cagliari with 12 Km of beach. This beach is reachable in 15 minutes with the local bus, which departs 50 Mt from your front door.
Languages spoken: English, German and French.

Exhibition space - Contemporary Art

"Salotto dell'Arte" was born in Turin, but since 2015 it has moved to the Historic Centre of Cagliari, in the upper part of "Marina", in the Piazzetta G. M. Dettori, evocative and elegant, in front of "Piccolo auditorium" and close to several artistic and cultural workshops. It has a contemporary look and aims to be a staple centre of down town city life. We are convinced that Culture is necessary, engaging, useful, and attractive. It is a fascinating world, a call for the curious.

What do we find at "Salotto dell'Arte?

It is a space where you can find and rediscover works of contemporary art exhibited in collections of various expressive trends. It is proposed to highlight talented artists who also represent their love for this island, permeated with history. The exhibitions are highly influenced by current matters or suggested by day to day life.
The "Salotto dell'Arte" is an open space where you can participate and attend book presentations, cultural evenings, debates and conventions and personal or collective exhibitions.
In the vernissage, lovable and sensitive friends prepare simple but always varied and appetizing buffets, to toast to the beauty that Art manages to extract from each of us. We also organize musical and poetic entertainments by various authors in order to promote Art.

Moreover, we collaborate in the artistic Direction and curating of personal exhibitions in the space that Ag. Imm. Onali of Via S. Margherita 6 Cagliari (near Piazza Yenne) makes available to the art in the belief that this world unites.

Sardinia's most long-established saltworks stretches across the 2700 hectares of the Santa Gilla basin: for almost 90 years, mankind and nature have been working in perfect synergy thanks to the far-sighted ambition of engineer Luigi Conti Vecchi who, in the late 1920s, implemented a pioneering project to reclaim the basin by building an immense saltworks and, in the process, contributing to the economic and social development of this depressed area on the outskirts of the city. There arose a flourishing, virtuous and forward-looking business: an eco-sustainable, self-sufficient chemical plant around which orbited a ‘salt community’ endowed with houses, schools and recreational facilities for the families of the owners, managers and employees who lived together in the village of Macchiareddu.

After the war, in the 1970s, the complex was sold to SIR Rumianca and in 1984, following the oil crisis and resultant industrial slow-down, it was compulsorily sold to Eni, which, over time, launched a project of industrial regeneration and reclamation through Syndial – a company that supplies integrated services in the field of environmental redevelopment – and which in 2017 entrusted to FAI the enhancement of this landscape and its cultural heritage. It is a story into which you can immerse yourself as you walk through the time-honoured executive suite, offices and chemical laboratory, which have been restored to look just as they did in the 1930s. It all adds up to a step back in time, accompanied by large-scale, evocative video-projections in the Workshop and the former Carpenter's Office that re-trace the history and operations of the saltworks and the landscape, which we explore on board a dedicated convoy that meanders along a route taking in saltpans and white mountains of salt, in surroundings that are as unusual as they are memorable, being home to hundreds of pink flamingos.

"Sa Pardula" Bed & Breakfast was born in Cagliari in the spring of 2017, with the purpose of giving tourists a place from which to discover all the wonders of our land.

The Bed & Breakfast has 3 comfortable double rooms with private bathroom with shower; each room is equipped with double glazed fixtures to reduce noise and allow you to maximize your rest.

The rooms

Each room has at your disposal: conditioned air, hair-dryer, towels set, hands and shower soap set, mattress and pillows with anti-mites treatment, Broadband Wi-Fi connection, city map, LCD TV

The breakfast

Every morning we offer you a rich Italian breakfast, for a load of energy to start the day at your best. At your disposal in the kitchen and common area: expandable table usable for your meals, dishes and cutlery, fridge, microwave oven, Italian and foreign books

On request, for intolerances or allergies we will be able to provide you alternatives in order to meet your needs.

At the beach

For your day at the sea we have at your disposal (no charge) umbrellas and beach towels, if you ever need it.

Luggage room

If you should arrive before check-in on the day of arrival or maybe you would have your plane in the evening, after check-out, you will be able to leave your luggage in the facility, free of charge.

You will find them in your room at check-in time or you can (on the day of departure) go to pick them up before going to the airport.

Airport shuttle bus

There is a shuttle service to and from the airport; we just need to know the time of arrival, flight number and country of origin. We will meet at Elmas arrivals to accompany you directly to your room.

The service is chargeable, 10€ for one way.

And of course advice on visiting the city, beaches to visit and all that we can help you with!

“Sa Pardula" Bed & Breakfast was born in Cagliari in the spring of 2017, with the purpose of giving tourists a place from which to discover all the wonders of our land.

Its central location is ideal to fully live the city, its neighbourhoods, its history and get in touch with the true Sardinian lifestyle.

Discover the food, the sea and the people of Sardinia, as they are just a short walk away from you.

Because at "Sa Pardula", you are in the heart of everything!