Castelsardo is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, located in the northwest of the island within the Province of Sassari

Province of Sassari

The Province of Sassari is a province in the autonomous island region of Sardinia in Italy. Its capital is the city of Sassari.-Geography:It has an area of 4,282 km², and a total population of 322,326 . There are 66 municipalities in the province, the largest of which are Sassari The...

.

History

Archaeological excavations have showed the human presence in the area of Castelsardo since pre-Nuragic

Nuragic civilization

The Nuragic civilization was a civilization of Sardinia, lasting from the Bronze Age to the 2nd century AD. The name derives from its most characteristic monuments, the nuraghe. They consist of tower-fortresses, built starting from about 1800 BC...

 and Nuragic times, as well as during the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 domination in Sardinia.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire

Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....

, a monastery (Nostra Signora di Tergu

Nostra Signora di Tergu

Nostra Signora di Tergu is a parish church in Tergu, province of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. One of the most outstanding examples of Romanesque architecture in the island, the church and the remains of the annexed abbey are located in a countryside area outside the village.The construction of the...

) was founded nearby, but the current town originates from the castle built here, in 1102 (or 1270), by the Doria

Doria

Doria, originally de Auria , meaning "the sons of Auria", and then de Oria or d'Oria, is the name of an old and extremely wealthy Genoese family who played a major role in the history of the Republic of Genoa and in Italy, from the 12th century to the 16th century.-Origins:According to legend, a...

 family of Genoa

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

. The castle and the village which gradually formed round it where the seat of the Doria's fiefdom in the island, until it was conquered by the Aragonese

House of Aragon

The House of Aragon is the name given several royal houses that ruled the County, the Kingdom or the Crown of Aragon.Some historiansGuillermo Fatás y Guillermo Redondo, Alberto Montaner Frutos, Faustino Menéndez Pidal de Navascués...

 in the 15th century.

Castelsardo, now part of the Savoy

House of Savoy

The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

's Kingdom of Sardinia

Kingdom of Sardinia

The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

, obtained its current name by will of King Charles Emmanuel III

Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia

Charles Emmanuel III was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death.-Biography:...

.

Main sights

• the Elephant's Rock, one of the symbols of Sardinia
• Megalithic walls, from pre-Nuragic
  Nuragic civilization
  The Nuragic civilization was a civilization of Sardinia, lasting from the Bronze Age to the 2nd century AD. The name derives from its most characteristic monuments, the nuraghe. They consist of tower-fortresses, built starting from about 1800 BC...
  
   times
• nuraghe
  Nuraghe
  The nuraghe is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture, the Nuragic civilization...
  
   Paddaju and others
• Doria Castle (1102)
• Co-Cathedral
  Castelsardo Cathedral
  The Co-Cathedral of Castelsardo is a church in Castelsardo, northern Sardinia, Italy. It is entitled to St. Anthony the Abbot.The church became the seat of the diocese of Ampurias in 1503, and the current edifice date to the reconstruction carried on between 1597 and the 18th...
  
  , entitled to St. Anthony the Abbot. The crypts house the Museum "Maestro di Castelsardo";
• Church of St. Mary, with a wooden Black Christ
• Doria Palace
• La Loggia Palace, town hall since 1111
• Palace of Eleonora of Arborea
• Sea walls