History of Sardinia
Everywhere you find relics of the past
The history of Sardinia is at the same time the history of various conquerors and colonial powers that replaced each other and exploited the island. The Sardinians were actually only truly independent in their early history.
First came the Phoenicians, later the Carthaginians (Punic), Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Pisans, Genoese, Spaniards, Piedmontese and finally the Italians.
Sardinia has been an autonomous region of Italy since 1948 with extensive rights to self-government. To this day, the Sardinian population does not feel that it really belongs to Italy – its own culture and traditions are too independent and deeply rooted for that.
If you take a trip to the mountain villages, you will experience the self-sufficient and traditional way of life of the natives and feel that Sardinia is completely different from Italy.
Throughout the island, sights from past eras have been preserved and give a vivid picture of their changeable and often tragic history.
The protohistory
Tomb of Li Muri
It is not yet clear exactly when the settlement of Sardinia began. The oldest finds of stone tools are estimated to be about 150,000 years old. Presumably, the first people came over a land bridge that existed at that time between the mainland, Elba, Corsica and Sardinia.
Around 7000 years ago, people began to produce ceramics.
Obsidian, a black, hard, glassy rock, was found on the slopes of the extinct volcano Monte Arci near Oristano. Tools and weapons were made from it. These must have been sought-after export articles at that time, because products made of Sardinian obsidian were also found in Italy, France and Corsica.
People were already farming and livestock breeding at that time. They built graves for their dead in rock walls – the so-called “Domus de Janas”.
Among others, the tombs “Anghelu Ruju” near Alghero and “Li Muri” near Arzachena have been preserved from this period.
The Nuraghic culture (1800 – 500 B.C.)
Nuraghe Succuronis
Very little is known about this mysterious people. It is also disputed whether they had immigrated or whether they developed from the Sardinian population of the time. What is certain is that they were tribes of herdsmen.
This megalithic culture got its name from its most famous buildings – the nuraghes.
These enormous stone towers, which only exist in Sardinia, have metres-thick walls made of roughly piled-up stone blocks. Only a narrow corridor leads inside and loopholes are the only openings to the outside.
According to the current state of historical research, the nuraghi were not so much used for defence against foreign conquerors as for defence against hostile neighbours.
In the final phase of this culture, many individual towers were expanded into fortress-like complexes. Other buildings of the Nuragher are the giants’ tombs “Tombe dei Giganti” and the well temples.
The remains of about 7000 nuraghi are scattered all over the island. The largest nuraghic fortress is “Su Nuraxi” near Barumini. Also worth seeing are “Arrubiu”, “Santu Antine”, “Palmavera” near Alghero and “Albucciu” near Arzachena, where the giants’ tombs “Coddu Vecchiu” and “Li Lolghi” are located.
Near Olbia you can visit the holy well “Sa Testa”. Other famous holy wells are “Santa Cristina”, “Santa Vittoria” and “Su Tempiesu”.
Phoenicians and Punics (ca. 1000 – 238 B.C.)
Around 1000 BC, the Phoenicians founded the first trading settlements and later also cities in the south of Sardinia. When they then discovered the silver, copper and iron deposits, there were armed conflicts with the Nuraghians, who were then driven out of many coastal regions.
The Carthaginians, who were called Punic by the Romans, developed from a Phoenician colony.
Around 550 B.C., the Punic began to gradually take possession of all the Phoenician settlements in Sardinia. In doing so, they sealed the demise of the Nuraghians, who retreated into the mountains and lived there only as simple shepherds.
The tribes of herdsmen repeatedly attacked the coastal areas to take everything they could not produce themselves in the mountains. The practice of these raids, called “bardanas”, persisted throughout various occupations. The last bardana took place in 1894, when the men of Orgosolo raided the village of Tortoli.
The coastal plains were intensively farmed by the Punians and mining was advanced.
As a “small present” they brought in malaria. This insidious disease was not banished from the island until the middle of the 20th century.
The ruins of Tharros near Oristano and Nora near Pula are among the remains of Phoenician and Punic settlements.
The Romans (238 B.C. – 476 A.D.)
Ancient Roman bridge near Fertilia
In the course of the Punic Wars, the Romans occupied Sardinia and began to develop the island with roads, towns and water pipes.
This led to conflicts with the shepherds living in the interior, who repeatedly put up armed resistance.
The “barbarian land” – today’s Barbagia – became the retreat of the “sardi pelliti” (“pelt-sards”), as they were called by the Romans.
Although Sardinia remained a Roman province for about 650 years, the legions did not succeed in completely subduing the island.
Almost 100,000 Sardinians were abducted and enslaved. In turn, Sardinia became a infamous place of exile for Jews and Christians. The later persecution of Christians produced numerous martyrs who are venerated as saints today.
Since the Romans often expanded the cities of the Punic, there are hardly any purely Roman sights. Ruins of Roman bridges remain at Sant’Antioco, Ittireddu and Porto Torres, and the sparse remains of an aqueduct at Olbia.
The ruins of the Roman thermal baths at Fordongianus and Porto Torres are worth seeing.
The Middle Ages (500 – 1000)
The Arabs brought the date palm to Sardinia
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Vandals first settled on the coasts. They were driven out by the Byzantines in 534, when Sardinia was annexed to the Roman Eastern Empire. The Byzantines ruthlessly exploited the island and its inhabitants and began to Christianise the population.
In the 8th century, the Arabs – called Saracens by the Byzantines – came to plunder the coastal areas. The inhabitants abandoned the coastal towns and fled into the heartland, where new towns such as Sassari and Oristano sprang up.
With the progressive depopulation of the coastal regions, politically autarkic structures increasingly emerged in the countryside.
Byzantium was too weak to defend the island effectively. While the Saracens were ruling the coasts, the interior of the island was divided into four so-called judicates, each presided over by a feudal lord as “judge”.
Over time, the magistracies passed to the Sardinians. In the beginning, the judges were freely elected, later the office became hereditary.
The Latin of the Middle Ages gave rise to the Sardinian language.
Apart from the language and individual elements in folk art, hardly anything has survived from this era.
Pisans and Genoese (1015 – 1300)
Rural church San Pietro di Simbranos
Around 1015, Caliph Mughabid had conquered the southern part of the island. Pope Benedict VIII wanted to prevent a complete occupation of the island and asked the city states of Pisa and Genoa for help. After their victory, they divided Sardinia among themselves – Pisa henceforth ruled the south, Genoa the north.
Both city states primarily pursued their own interests and continued to exploit the island. Forests were cut down and mines put back into operation. Despite everything, this period brought an economic and cultural upswing. Cities were founded, lands were cultivated and forts were built. Monastic orders came to the island, churches and monasteries were built.
Of the four judicatories, only Arborea was able to hold its own and was not dissolved until 1410.
Forts and churches from this period have been preserved all over the island.
The Spaniards (1297 – 1718)
Spanish Saracen tower
James II of Aragon received the fief over Sardinia in 1297.
The Genoese submitted and the Pisans were expelled.
The new rulers established a feudal system – the cruellest regime in Sardinian history.
The cities of Cagliari and Alghero could no longer be entered by Sardinians at night. Alghero soon acquired a purely Catalan population.
Plague, malaria, famine and Saracen pirates ravaged the population.
To protect against pirate raids, the Spanish Saracen towers were built along the coast, of which about 70 still remain.
Other relics of the Spanish occupiers include the Cathedral of Sassari and the Sardinian coat of arms, which originally came from Aragon.
Kingdom of Sardinia (1718 – 1847)
The “tancas” are still visible
After the War of the Spanish Succession, Sardinia was initially awarded to Austria in 1714. In exchange for Sicily, the island went to the Duchy of Savoy in 1718, which held various lands on the mainland. The Duke of Piedmont now called himself “King of Sardinia”.
The Piedmontese made Italian the official language and introduced a school system.
The Spanish lords in Sardinia were guaranteed their previous rights and the Sardinians now had to cede taxes to their landlords and to the state. Time and again, uprisings flared up and out of necessity many became “bandits”.
The worst came, however, when in 1820 the Sardinian minister Carlo Felice carried out a land reform and promulgated the “Editto delle chiudende” (enclosure decree). This law, positive in its approach, was finally supposed to bring the desired progress to Sardinian agriculture.
Everyone was now allowed to take possession of the land they farmed by fencing it off. As a result, however, it was mainly the feudal lords and peasants who secured almost all the land that could be used for agriculture.
For the shepherds, who had hitherto used the land as pasture on an equal footing, this was a disaster, because they now had to pay for its use. The economic plight soon led to civil war.
Even today, the whole of Sardinia is criss-crossed by a network of low stone walls (tancas). The north-south connection Porto Torres – Cagliari bears the name of the initiator of this road construction – Carlo Felice.
Sardinia becomes part of Italy (1861 – 1948)
Bridge over the Lago di Coghinas
In 1861, Italy was unified as a nation state, the “Risorgimento” (resurgence) and Sardinia became part of the young country.
With the targeted economic development of the Italian north at the expense of the south, the fate of the island was also sealed. The forests continued to be cut down, the mines exploited and high taxes squeezed the population. As the situation worsened, especially for the shepherds, banditry became more and more widespread.
During the First World War, the Sardinians distinguished themselves by their bravery in the “Brigata Sassari”. Their veterans founded the first Sardinian Action Party in 1921, which campaigned for the autonomy of the island.
When Mussolini came to power in 1922, the party was banned. Instead, large-scale agricultural projects and the expansion of the mines were to promise the Sardinians a bright future.
The malaria-infested swamps were drained, the first dams were built and new settlements were founded.
During the Second World War, bombs of the Allies fell mainly on Cagliari, two thirds of it were destroyed.
In 1948, Sardinia finally became an autonomous region of the Republic of Italy, which was founded in 1946.
The Italian state left behind neoclassical buildings and monuments in the 19th century, especially in the large cities. The best examples are in Cagliari and Sassari.
During Mussolini’s regime, the typical architecture of the fascists was built, which is best preserved in Carbonia and Fertilia.
Autonomous Region of Sardinia (1948 – today)
Mural painting in Orgosolo
By further draining the swamps in the coastal plains and the massive use of DDT, malaria was finally defeated in the 1950s.
With the money provided by the state (“Cassa per il Mezzogiorno”), the economic upswing was supposed to come to the Italian south and to Sardinia. However, only a few investors from the mainland gened benefit.
Three large industrial complexes were built in Sardinia, which were never really profitable far from other industrial centres. The hoped-for jobs were also filled mainly with skilled personnel from the mainland. To this day, about 400,000 Sardinians are forced to earn their living on the Italian mainland or abroad.
The NATO established numerous military bases. The conflict came to a head in 1969, when the inhabitants of Orgosolo offered passive resistance to the construction of a military training area on their ancestral pastures.
Of all things, the most notorious “bandit village” on the island (with support from all over Sardinia) won the day against the NATO.
When the holiday paradise of the “Costa Smeralda” was built from 1963 onwards under the leadership of Aga Khan, this heralded the beginning of the tourism industry in Sardinia. Fortunately, the Sardinians managed to prevent the construction of huge hotel complexes.
The Sardinian language was recognised as independent by the Italian parliament in 1999. Sardinian may now also be taught in schools.