Just outside the medieval city walls, on the edge of the historic center of Sassari, lies Piazza d’Italia.
In the centre of the square, stands the statue of Victor Emanuel II, created by the sculptor Giuseppe Sartorio. It’s inauguration in the presence of royalty in 1899 was also the occasion on which the first edition of the Cavalcata Sarda (Sardinian parade on horseback) took place.
It took shape at the end of the 19th century: within 4 years from the levelling work in 1872 the paving of the square and the two main buildings emerged.
On the northeastern side, Palazzo Sciuti, with unmistakable traces of Neo-Renaissance architecture, was built. It houses Sassari’s provincial headquarters since 1878. The 265 rooms, galleries and corridors in the building extend over an area of 4,500m2, including a courtyard with a portico and commemorative plaques and a garden. Catania-born artist Giuseppe Sciuti adorned the council chamber with an allegory of the history of Italy. In 1880 by big clock was placed on the façade.
The neo-Gothic-Venetian-style Palazzo Giordano was designed by Luigi Fasoli in 1878. The ground floor, which has a trachyte surface, is decorated with rounded windows and an ashlared ceiling. In the middle stands an impressive portal framed by four columns supporting the balcony on the first floor. Here, Siena-style double-lancet windows open up, while the second floor is decorated with tri-lobed single-lancet windows. The rooms are filled with ornaments, stuccoes and frescoes: the ‘yellow room’, a state room, enriched with paintings by Guglielmo Bilancioni, the mosaic floor and majestic staircase stand out.
Fondazione Sardegna Film Commission
Via Malta 63 — 09124 Cagliari
Phone: +39 070 2041961
Email: filmcommission@regione.sardegna.it
