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The origin of the name derives from two paritetic names: Thàthari and Sàssari. The first seems to indicate the origin of the founders of the first inhabited group, while the second, the oldest, originally indicated the vocation to gardens. It contains the sumera base sar "garden, vegetable garden" repeated to indicate its totality, "immense network of vegetable gardens".
There is no certain information about the origins of the town, the most likely hypothesis being that it was the result of the gradual enlargement of one of the medieval villages that sprang up in the hills behind the Gulf of Asinara. It is known for certain that in 1113 the judges of Torres began to stay there, strengthening it with a castle, the Castrum Sassaris or Saxi, which is already mentioned in a document from the year 1118.
Later he was involved in the struggle for dominance over Sardinia and, in the same sentence of Torres, between Pisa, Genoa and the Judges. The Ligurian Republic prevailed after the battle of Meloria (1284), stipulating an agreement in which Genoa undertook to protect and defend Sassari. The control of the city was entrusted to the Genoese podestà and to the Consiglio Maggiore, formed by a hundred citizens with the office for life. In reaction to the Genoese who wanted to reduce their autonomy, a pro-Aragonese group was formed in the city, but it was immediately clear that the new allies aimed at a rigid rule of the city. In 1325 there was therefore a rebellion repressed by the Aragonese who built a fortress to better monitor it.
The Aragonese were consolidated after a series of struggles only in 1420, while that circle of noble Spaniards was strengthened, benefiting from the fiefs granted to them. The control of the traffic in the north of Sardinia and the presence of the feudal lords became a source of well-being and power. In 1528 the plague carried at least 15 thousand deaths in the city alone and a vow was made to the Madonna for the end of the epidemic in 1582. Within the community, the categories of craftsmen and workers called Gremi began to gain importance. In the procession of August 14th, during which large Candlesticks are carried, with one for each category of workers, the solemn promise is renewed every year.
Like all of Sardinia, with the Treaty of London in the year 1718, it passed to Piedmont. Under the Savoy the city enjoyed considerable benefits, but the reformist drive loosened with Victor Amadeus III, leading the city to rebel in the year 1780. Within days order was restored. A revolutionary decade ensued where revolts were controlled with executions. It shined again in the year 1821 thanks to the government of first Carlo Felice and then Carlo Alberto, and in the year 1836, permission to build outside the city walls led the city to expand, so much so that in the early 1900s there was considerable industrial development. Protagonists, starting in the year 1891, in the political environment, were three young lawyers, Enrico Berlinguer, Pietro Moro and Pietro Satta Branca, who founded the newspaper La Nuova Sardegna, which soon became the most widely circulated newspaper on the island.
After the war, Sassari reacted slowly and got a slow economic development, leading the city to become today the second most important city of Sardinia.
THINGS TO SEE AND DO
Traveling along the State Road 131 "Carlo Felice", direction of Porto Torres, exactly at Km 222.300, you turn into a dirt road that leads to the entrance gate of the archaeological area of Monte d'Accoddi. Unique in the Mediterranean basin, the monument is morphologically classified to a Mesopotamian zhqqurat, and is attributed to the culture of Abealzu-Filigosa.
The huts surrounding the altar indicate that it was a place of worship. 75 meters long, including the access ramp, and was 37 meters high but currently 8 meters. Near the altar there are other monumental prenuragic artifacts: to the east a slab of 8.2 tons, perhaps it constituted a table for offers, on the opposite side a Menhir and two spheroidal stones, the largest weighs more than a ton and has a circumference about 5 meters, the second has a diameter of about 60 cm. The monument would express the religious representation of the Mesopotamians, who were convinced that heaven and earth joined together, by means of a mountain (Kodi in archaic Sardinian), while the divinity descended among men. The altar on the tower was therefore therefore the meeting point between man and the divine and probably a large number of animals were sacrificed there. Another hypothesis is that the symmetry of the altar would reproduce the stars of the Southern Cross, today not visible from the site because of the precession of the equinoxes, but that 5000 years ago was probably visible in the southern portion of the Sardinian sky.
Not far away are the necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu, with 22 Domus de Janas all multi-cellular, Ponte Secco with thirteen hypogeic tombs, Li Lioni, Sant'Ambrogio, Su Jaiu, Spina Santa and Marinaru, the dolmens and menhirs of Frades Muros,and a dozen nuraghi. The necropolis of Montalè, consisting of six hypogea is located close to the neighborhood of Li Punti, while at the hamlet of Tottubella we can see the Nuraghe Rumanedda, of the tholos single-tower type. Also a short distance away is the Roman fort museum, precisely at La Crucca, set in a beautiful park used for historical re-enactments.
The Cathedral of St. Nicholas, called the cathedral, built in 1725 presents the Baroque facade of considerable value, with three niches above the rectangular portico, inside which there are statues of Saints Turritani (Gianuario, Proto and Gavino); The Church of San Pietro di Silki, annexed to the Franciscan convent and seat of the Gremi dei Massai; The Church of Sant'Andrea, the seat of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament and the Church of Santa Caterina are just some of the many religious architecture of considerable interest.
Civil architecture represents a significant asset for the city. Along Corso Vittorio Emanuele we can admire the Gothic Catalan houses of the fifteenth century, Palazzo d'Usini in Piazza Tola, today the Municipal Library, the ancient grain depot called Palazzo della Frumentaria, the Doge's Palace currently the town hall, the Civic Theater, the Palaces of Giordano, Cugurra and of the Province in Piazza Italia are just some of the places of merit you can visit during your stay in the city.
The symbol of the city is the Fountain of Roselloat the foot of the homonymous district and dominated by the fascist period bridge. It fed the aqueduct that supplied Porto Torres. The water flows from eight masks to the base, three on each major side and one on the smaller sides, and from the statues placed at the corners representing the 4 seasons. Added in 1828, they replace the original ones destroyed in the anti-feudal movements of 1795; of them, only the one depicting the Estate was saved, but it is very damaged and is currently kept inside the Palazzo Ducale. Equally the two crossed arches, at the top of which stood the statue of San Gavino, were rebuilt in 1843, while the statue is a copy of the original. Under the cruise a fifth statue, original, depicting a lying river god.
The Castle of Sassari, built by the Aragonese, was demolished in 1877 and in the area where it stood, was built La Marmora Barracks, seat of the Sassari Brigade with the homonymous square, under which, recent archaeological excavations have brought to light the foundations of the ancient structure. Starting from the XIII century, the city was surrounded by walls, interspersed with 36 towers but only 6 remain, including the only round tower also called Turondola. The perimeter had a development of 3 km and was divided by 4 doors; in 1600 another door was opened, between the Archbishopric and the University, and was called "New".
Piazza Fiume known by the Sassaresi by that name for almost a century, was born in the year 1899 as Piazza Ospedale because it was built in front of Sassari's first real Civil Hospital, completed in the year 1849. It was the Municipality that, with an urgent resolution, in November of the year 1918, immediately after the victorious end of the war, gave names that, like Piazza Fiume and Via Brigata Sassari, Viale Trento and Viale Trieste, commemorated the sacred places of that long useless slaughter. After a lengthy restoration, the former Civil Hospital houses the new University Library inside, replete with its approximately 300,000 volumes. The square is the protagonist of various kinds of demonstrations and events and in its basement houses the largest parking lot in Sassari.
The number of Museums in the city is noteworthy, as is the important national archaeological and ethnographic museum GA Sanna and the Masedu Museum of Contemporary Art, while the Museo Diocesano and the Masedu Museum of Contemporary Art, while the Museum of Sassari Arte (MUS'A) and the Museum of 20th and Contemporary Art present interesting exhibitions temporary collections with Sironi, Biasi and Sardinian art of the '900 and beyond.
In Sassari, the artisan tradition safeguards the symbols and the shapes in the drawings that adorn all the objects produced by the objects and jewelery, to clothing. In the historic center there are shops-workshops in which it is possible to buy products made by local artisans, created with the same techniques in use centuries ago but also with techniques developed in a more modern direction, thus turning into designs and artifacts of surprising modernity. There is no shortage of historic storiche dove poter acquistare le eccellenze culinarie dell’isola.
For decades events, especially religious, have a strong tourist attraction. The Festha Manna takes place on August 14th. It renews the promise to Our Lady with the traditional "Faradda di li candareri" (Descent of the candlesticks).
Every year on Ascension Sunday (penultimate Sunday in May), since 1711, in homage to King Philip V of Spain, La Cavalcata sarda with a parade on foot and on horseback from groups from all over Sardinia, is one of the most important events on the island.Every year on Ascension Sunday (penultimate Sunday in May), since 1711, in homage to King Philip V of Spain, La Cavalcata sarda with a parade on foot and on horseback from groups from all over Sardinia, is one of the most important events on the island.
Variegata la cucina sassarese, da gustare in agriturismo o ristorante, soprattutto piatti a base di formaggio e di verdure come la fabadda, zuppa molto densa a base di fave secche, cavolo, finocchi, cotenna e carne di maiale. Tra i secondi piatti, troviamo la cordula con piselli, la trippa cotta nel sugo di pomodoro e un posto importante occupano le chiocciole, spesso chiamate lumache, nelle varie pezzature.
Il piatto tipico è lo zimino, cioè le interiora del vitello come diaframma, intestino, cuore e milza, cooked in a grill over embers. Another typical "adopted" dish is fainé genovese.
Tra i dolci, oltre a quelli tipici dell’isola come papassini, tiricche e seadas, sono proprie della città e dintorni le frittelle lunghe dette “li frisgiori longhi” o “sas frigjolas” fatte principalmente durante il carnevale, fritte e a base di farina, acqua, zucchero, anice e scorza d’arancia grattugiata. Tanti gli accoglienti bar for a stop during which you can sip excellent local wines and craft beers.