Cagliari, Sardinia

It's been awhile since I had a good sail-in sunrise photo to start the post.  This will undoubtedly be one of the last ones as we turn our clocks back another hour tonight.  All through this trip I have appreciated traveling in a general westward direction since that means we gain the hour as we go.  

Sardinia is the second largest island (after Sicily) in the Mediterranean Sea.  It is an autonomous region of Italy, but is closer to Tunis in northern Africa than to it's Italian mainland.  The island is home to 1.5 million people and 4 million sheep.  Like Malta, it was ruled by each of the conquering empires in turn over the centuries, but the influence of the Pisans (from Pisa, Italy) seems to have had the most influence on the current status of the capital city, Cagliari.  In addition, the destruction of 80% of the city by Allied bombing in WWII means that much of what is present today has been rebuilt since that time.  

The city of Cagliari is built on seven hills, but this Castello hillside district is what seafarers see.  We sat at lunch on the terrace of the ship and I recognized the landmarks that I passed on the walking portion of our panoramic excursion.  The bus dropped us off near the dome at the top and over an hour's time, we wound our way down to the shopping street just a block or so back from the shore.  Looking at it from a distance it seemed that we must have walked much farther than it felt, probably because we were going downhill.

The first part of our excursion was a drive around on the bus. We stopped to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria, who is said to be the patron saint of sailboats.  

According to the story, a cargo ship was sailing from Spain to Italy in 1370 when it encountered a storm.  

In an effort to save the ship, the cargo was thrown overboard.  When one particular crate hit the water, the storm stopped.  The crate eventually washed ashore at the foot of the hill of Bonaria (or "good air") in Cagliari.  Monks who lived in the sanctuary at the top of the hill came and opened the crate in which was found a statue of the Virgin Mary with the Baby Jesus cradled in her left arm and a lit candle in her right hand.  

This aspect of Mary is also the patron saint of another city named for its "good air", Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Pope Francis, an Argentinian, came to this Church to worship in 2013.

In the past, one of the local industries was harvesting salt from the sea water.  There are many large evaporating ponds near the shore, but the salt is no longer extracted. 

Instead, the ponds have become home to the pink brine shrimp that flamingos eat and that turn this bird its famous pink color.  I don't think I've ever seen a pink flamingo outside of someone's front yard, so it was pretty fun to see them here. I know the photo is quite poor, but you can still see that the middle bird is grey in color.  This indicates that it is a juvenile, as the pink color is acquired from the shrimp over time.

Here are a couple of the panoramic views we had where the bus dropped us off for our walk through the Castello district.  

These photos and the map above show that Cagliari is situated in a very large natural harbor surrounded by mountains.

The first stop on the walking portion of our tour was to the cathedral.  It was first built in 1258 in the Pisan-Romanesque style, then renovated in the latter part of the 17th century in the Baroque style.  The current neo-Romanesque facade was completed in 1930. 

                                  The cathedral has a lovely sunlit interior

                                      and a beautifully painted ceiling.  

                                   But its claim to fame is found underground in the Crypt of the Martyrs.

The upper walls of the crypt are covered with niches containing the remains of 179 martyrs found during excavations made in the 17th century.  

 The Castello district was so named because it was built like a castle or fortress.  This is one of the remaining towers that mark the perimeter. Called the Elephant Tower because of the small statue on the left corner, it once served as a prison.  The severed heads of the prisoners were hung on the walls in an attempt to serve as a deterrent.

 There is conflicting information about the flag of Sardinia.  The red cross in the center creates four quadrants, each of which have the head of a "Moor" with a white bandage.  In the past, the bandage was over the eyes like a blindfold, but the current official flag has the bandage on the forehead.  A precursor of this design has been used as their emblem from as early as the 13th century.

 Just a lovely side street.  This one is much wider than some others we saw.

Our guide told us a little about the traditional costume, mostly that it is somewhat different in every region of the country.  She said the costumes weren't available for purchase--that the grandmothers spend a year making them for their granddaughters.  In the gift shop at the cruise terminal, this lovely young woman wore a traditional wedding costume.

All aboard was 1:30 because we had 336 nautical miles to sail on our way to Algers, Algeria.  The seagulls escorted us out of the harbor.