Cagliari 1943 — Uncover the Buried Secret

Your investigation begins in Piazza Yenne, a nerve center of Cagliari. This square, approximately 4,000 m² in size, was in 1943 a place for popular gatherings for official announcements, even in wartime. As an architect, you know its name, given in 1859, honors Giovanni Maria Angioy, a figure of the Sardinian revolution of 1794. The 19th-century neoclassical buildings surrounding it silently witnessed the first air raids. It is here, at the intersection of Piazza Costituzione and Via Manno, that the first rumors of the 1943 Sardinia bombings began to circulate, transforming the daily lives of Cagliari's inhabitants.

Walking up Largo Carlo Felice, an avenue named in 1821 in honor of Charles Félix of Savoy, King of Sardinia, you gauge the extent of the destruction. This 450m processional route, connecting Piazza Yenne to Palazzo Regio, was bombed on February 15, 1943, during the first Allied air raid on Cagliari, causing 284 deaths. Previously, in 1832, it was the first in Cagliari to benefit from gas lighting after its renovation. Today, as Efisio Ortu, you search for traces of lost documents here, aware that every stone tells a part of the city's history and its role in the Kingdom of Sardinia 1720-1861.

Palazzo Civico, your third stop, is a key building in your investigation. Built in 1752-1754 under architect Pietro Luigi Monticelli, this building with an 18m high baroque facade, adorned with 21 windows, was the seat of the fascist podestà during the war. Severely damaged by the 1943 bombings, it was listed among the historical buildings of Cagliari by royal decree in 1902. Its archives are vital for your quest. You must reconstruct the events that led Mayor Antonio Ballero to hide the documents, as the city of Cagliari endured incessant Allied assaults.

Reaching the Bastione di Saint Remy Monument, a fortification built in 1902 on 14th-century Pisan ramparts, you overlook the port. This monumental 34m high staircase, with its 16 spans, offers a panoramic view, but also the memory of dark days. Inaugurated on June 14, 1903, by King Vittorio Emanuele III, it was severely hit by Allied bombings from February to May 1943, which destroyed 85% of Cagliari. As Efisio Ortu, you examine the scars on the stone, looking for a hidden clue, an engraved message that could guide you to the buried secret, recalling the sacrifice of Cagliari and its inhabitants.

Your journey then takes you to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria 1254, founded in the 13th century. Its neoclassical facade, completed in 1836 by Giorgo Ortu, houses the tombs of the Judges of Arborea (11th century) and a 54m high Romanesque bell tower. Damaged by the bombing of April 28, 1943, and restored in 1950, it embodies the resilience of Cagliari. Finally, the Giardini Pubblici, created in 1840 on the old Spanish ramparts, offer a 2-hectare interlude with 150 Mediterranean plant species. This civilian refuge during the 1943 air raids, houses the statue of Carlo Felice. As the architect of reconstruction, your thematic circuit of Cagliari will have allowed you to grasp the soul of the city, an interactive visit between past and present, and to understand the scale of the challenge of its renewal.