Cagliari

Cagliari (pronounced Cal’yari), the capital of Sardinia, at the head of a spacious bay, on the south coast of the island. By steamboat it is 34 hours from Leghorn, 27 from Naples, 22 from Palermo, and 17 from Tunis; whilst by rail it is 174 miles S. of Porto Torres. With a lagoon on either hand, it lies at the base and on the slopes of a steep hill, 300 feet high; its streets are mostly narrow and dirty. Its harbour, defended by forts, has been enlarged since 1882; and Cagliari has a university (1596; remodelled 1764), a castle (circa 1217), a cathedral (1312; modernised 1703), and a bronze statue (1860) of Charles Felix V. Pop. (1893) 42,000. Cagliari occupies the site of the Carales of the Carthaginians, and has a Roman amphitheatre, measuring 95½ by 79 yards. From 19 A.D. till 1492 it was the seat of a great Jewish colony; otherwise it has shared the ups and downs of Sardinia, having been several times besieged or bombarded—in 1708 by the English under Admiral Lake.