Cagliari Porta Cristina

Cagliari Porta Cristina

Porta Cristina
Gateway to the medieval castle district

In 1215 the Pisan Lamberto Visconti, giudice of Gallura, obtained by force from the Torchitorio IV of Cagliari and his wife Benedetta the mount located east of Santa Igia. Soon (1216/1217) Pisan merchants founded in this mount a new fortified city that will be known as "Castel di Castro", which can be considered as the ancestor of the modern city of Cagliari. Some of the fortifications that still surround the current district of Castello (Casteddu 'e susu in the Sardinian language) were built by the Pisans, most notably the two remaining white limestone towers designed by architect Giovanni Capula (originally there were three towers that guarded the three gates that gave access to the district). Together with the district of Castello, Castel di Castro comprised the districts of Marina (which included the port) and later Stampace and Villanova. Marina and Stampace were guarded by walls, while Villanova, which mainly hosted peasants, was not.

The Torre di San Pancrazio is a medieval tower in Cagliari, southern Sardinia, Italy. It is located in the Castello historical quarter of the city.
The tower was built in 1305, during the Pisan domination of the city, by the Sardinian architect Giovanni Capula, who designed also the Torre dell'Elefante two years later, as well as the Torre dell'Aquila, partly destroyed in the 18th century and now incorporated in Palazzo Boyl. The tower was part of the city's fortifications built against the Moorish and Genoese attacks. The tower was built in white limestone from the nearby Colle di Bonaria, with walls up to 3 meters thick. It has also a gate, that, together with that of the Torre dell'Elefante, is still the main entrance to Castello.
During the Aragonese rule, the edifice was modified and used as a jail. It was restored in 1906, with the reopening of some sections which had been covered by other buildings.