Tàttari/Sassari

Sister cities

• Viterbo
• Gorizia
• Timișoara
• Nola

History

Although Sassari was founded in the early Middle Ages, the surrounding area has been inhabited since the Neolithic age, and throughout ancient history, by the Nuragics and the Romans. Many archaeological sites and ancient ruins are located inside or around the town: the prehistoric step pyramid of Monte d'Accoddi, a large number of Nuraghes and Domus de Janas (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 city of Turris Libisonis with Caralis. In the locality of Fiume Santo is also found a fossil site where an Oreopithecus bambolii, a prehistoric anthropomorphic primate, was discovered, dated at 8.5 million years. The origin of the city remains uncertain. Among the theses, according to folk tradition the first village was founded around the 9th–10th century AD by the inhabitants of the ancient Roman port of Turris Libisonis (current Porto Torres), who sought refuge in the mainland to escape the Saracen 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, and San Giovanni di Bosove. The oldest mention of the village is in an 1131 document in the archive of the Monastery of St. Peter in Silki where is cited a man named Jordi de Sassaro (George of Sassari), a serf from the nearby village of Bosove. 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 Michele Zanche, the latter's last ruler in 1275, Sassari became subject to the Republic of Pisa with a semi-independent status. In 1284, the Pisans were defeated by…

Geography

Sassari is located in north-western Sardinia, at above sea level. The area rises up on a wide karstic plateau that slopes gently down towards the Gulf of Asinara and the Nurra plain. The city is surrounded by a green belt of thousands of hectares of olive plantations, which from the 19th century have partly replaced the mixed woodlands of oak and other Mediterranean trees as well as the maquis shrubland. The thinly populated Nurra Plain, located to the west, occupies the main part of the region of Sassari, while the urban agglomeration, with a population of about 275,000 inhabitants, is located to the south east. The abundance of water, with about 400 springs and artesian wells, has made for much development of horticulture over the centuries.