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'Sassari' (in Italian and Sassarese, a diasystem of Sardinian and Corsican; ''Tàthari'' in Sardinian), is a town in the province of Sassari in Sardinia, Italy. The second-largest town on the island in terms of population, Sassari is one of the most ancient Sardinian towns, and contains perhaps the best collection of Sardinian art.

Contents

History

Ecclesiastical history

Main sights

Culture

Notable people

Sources and references

External links

History

Sassari was probably founded in the early Middle Ages by the inhabitants of the ancient Roman port of ''Turris Lybisonis'' (current Porto Torres, which till then had been the principal city on the island), who sought refuge in the mainland to escape the Saracen attacks from the sea. The oldest mention of a village called '''Tathari''' is in an 1113 document in the archive of the Monastery of St. Peter in Silki. Sassari was sacked by the Genoese in 1166. Immigration continued until, in the early 13th century, Sassari was the most populous city in the ''giudicato'' of Torres. After the assassination of the latter's last judge (1274), Sassari was subject to the Republic of Pisa with a semi-independent status.
In 1294 the Pisans were annihilated by the Genoese fleet at the Battle of Meloria, and the city could free itself: it became the first free commune of Sardinia, with statutes of its own, allied with Genoa, which was pleased to see it thus withdrawn from the control of the Pisans. Its statutes of 1316 are remarkable for the leniency of the penalties imposed when compared with the penal laws of the Middle Ages.
From 1323 it was submitted to the Aragonese, under which it remained in the following centuries, but it revolted at least three times. Attempts of conquest by Genoa failed. In 1391 it was conquered by Brancaleone Doria and Marianus V of Arborea to the Giudicato of Arborea, of which it became the capital, but in 1420 it fell into the hands of the Aragonese. The Aragonese were replaced by the Spanish in 1479. In 1527 it was sacked by the French. During Catalan and then Spanish domination the city was known as ''Sàsser''. The city suffered for the economical exploitment and the political corruption of its rulers and for two plagues in 1528 and 1652.
Austrian rule (1708-1717) was succeeded by Piedmontese (1720-1861), and then became part of the newly created Kingdom of Italy.

Ecclesiastical history

Archdiocese in Sardinia situated on the River Rosello in a fertile region: a centre of the oil, fruit, wine and tobacco industries. The ecclesiastical history of Sassari commences with that of Torres. In 304 the soldier Gavinus, Protus a priest, and the deacon Januarius suffered martyrdom there. Later Gavinus and Protus were reputed bishops, and said to have lived in the second and third centuries respectively. St. Gaudentius, who seems to have belonged to the beginning of the fourth century, is also venerated there.
The first bishop whose date is known is Felix (404). Other bishops: Marinianus, a contemporary of pope St. Gregory the Great; Novellus (685), whose ordination caused a controversy between pope John V and the Archbishop of Cagliari; Felix (727), who took refuge at Genoa to escape the cruelty of the Saracens; almost nothing is known concerning bishops of Torres for the next three centuries, till Simon (1065).
His successor, Costantino de Crasta (1073), was an archbishop. Other archbishops: Blasius (1199), representative of Innocent III, on several occasions; Stefano, O.P. (1238), legate of Innocent IV in Sardinia and Corsica; Trogodario (about 1278) who erected the episcopal palace in Sassari, to which Teodosio (1292) added the Church of St. Andrea; after this the archbishops resided habitually at Sassari. Pietro Spano (1422) was a restorer of discipline; under him the episcopal see was definitively transferred to Sassari by Eugenius IV. This bishop intended to erect a seminary for the training of the clergy, but his death frustrated the plan. Angelo Leonini (1509) was at the Fifth Lateran Council; Salvatore Salepusi (1553) was distinguished at the Council of Trent; Alfonso de Sorca (1585), highly esteemed by Clement VIII.
At about the year 1500 there were united to the Archdiocese of Sassari the sees of Sorca (Saralapsis) which is mentioned as a bishopric in 1106, and whose last bishop was Jacopo Poggi; and the see of Ploaghe (Plubium), the first known bishop of which is Jacentius (1090). The suffragans of Sassari are: Alghero, Ampurias and Tempio, Bisarchio and Bosa.
In the early 20th century the archdiocese had 35 parishes, 140 secular; 41 regular priests: 112,500 inhabitants, 9 convents of religious, and 13 monasteries, 7 boys', and 5 girls' institutions.

Main sights

Of the ancient walls that in the 13th century surrounded the city, only a tower remains today of the original 36 towers and 4 gates.
Other attractions include:

★ The church of 'Santa Maria di Bètlem' (13th century), an example of early Gothic architecture in the island.

★ 'Palazzo D'Usini', one of the oldest houses in Sassari (now housing the main public library, therefore open to visits from the public).

★ The 'Fountain of the Rosello', built in 1606 by Genoese craftsmen. It is made by two squared parts surmounted by two crossing arches on which the statue of St. Gavins is placed

★ 'University Palace' (1611-1651), originally a Jesuit school.

★ The Cathedral of 'St. Nicholas of Bari', built in the 13th century and enlarged in Catalan Gothic style from 1480; there is a monument to the Duke of Maurienne inside. The façade, belonging to the Baroque restorations of 1650-1723, has a rectangular portico surmounted by three niches housing statues of saints. The bell tower is in Romanesque style.

★ The 'Ducal Palace' (current Town Hall, 1775-1806), built for the Duke of the Asinara in the 18th century.

★ The church of 'St. Peter in Silki', built in the 12th century but renovated in the 17th century.

★ The Church of the Most Blessed Trinity contains a beautiful picture by an unknown artist of the Quattrocento.

★ Other noteworthy buildings are the palace of the Duke of Vallombrosa, the Aragonese castle with its high tower and a thirteenth-century wall.

Culture

Sassari's university is the oldest in Sardinia (founded by the Jesuits in 1562), and has a high reputation, especially in jurisprudence studies; its libraries contain a number of ancient documents, among them the famous Carta de Logu (the constitution issued by ''Giudichessa'' Eleanor of Arborea), or the ''Condaghes'', Sardinia's first legal codes and the first documents written in the Sardinian language (11th century).
The Sassarese diasystem (''Sassaresu'' or ''Turritanu'') is not very similar to sardinian language however, but is closest to corsican language; although this fact has been causing a deep controversy. It is based on a mixture of different languages, namely Corsican, Pisano and Genoan (due to long medieval contacts with the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa in the age of Giudicati), but a strong Logudorese influence can be felt in its phonetics, syntax, and vocabulary. Sassarese is spoken in Sassari and in the neighbourhood, approximately by 120,000 people, in a total population of 175,000 inhabitants; large speaking communities are present also in Stintino, Sorso and Porto Torres; its trasition varieties towards Gallurese, known as the ''castellanesi'' dialects, can be heard in Castelsardo, Tergu e Sedini)

Notable people

Sassari is also the birthplace of many famous Sardinians, among them the former president of the Italian Republic, Francesco Cossiga, his cousin Enrico Berlinguer, national secretary in the 1970s and leader of the most important Communist party in Western Europe, and their uncle Antonio Segni, another former president of the Italian Republic. The current Secretary of Defense, Arturo Parisi, and the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the former governament, Giuseppe Pisanu, are also from Sassari.

Sources and references

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★ [1]

External links

★ On Line Guide