Quartu Sant'Elena

Quartu Sant'Elena (Sardinian :Cuartu Santa Alèni) is a city in the Province of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It is the third biggest city of Sardinia with a population of c. 71,000 as of 2008.

History

The city's name name comes from its distance to Cagliari (Quartum miles, Latin for “four miles”), and from the passage there of St. Helena, mother of emperor Constantine.

The first traces of human presence in Quartu are from the Phoenician period, as attested by findingsin Cepola, Geremeas, Is Mortorius and Separassiu localities. Roman findings were found near Sant’Andrea villa, a graveyard at S. Martino and a few tombs at Simbirizzi.

In the fourth century AD Sardinia was divided into four Giudicati: Quartu, which included fourteen villas, belonged to the Giudicato of Cagliari. In 1066 Quartu was given to Cagliari’s archbishop and then went back to Judge Torgotorio II of Cagliari. During the Aragonese rule, Quartu suffered for famines, plague, malaria and continuous raids from Saracen pirates, following the general path of decay of the whole Sardinia.

In 1793 the soldiers of a French fleet landed on the coast of Quartu, with the intention of conquering the whole island; the people of the city, led by Antonio Pisanu, assailed the French and repelled them after a bloody battle.

Feudalism ended in 1836 under the baron Pes di Villamarina. In 1956 Quartu Sant’Elena was upgraded to the status of “city” by the President of Republic Giovanni Gronchi.

Main sights

From an artistic point of view, there are five interesting churches situated in the city. The most important are the churches of Sant'Elena Imperatrice (dating before 1589, but now in Neo-Classic lines and recently proclaimed "Basilica"), Santa Maria Cepola (before 1089) and Sant'Agata. There is also Sa dom’e farra (house museum). It is a large peasant house of the 1600s, where you can see various rooms, objects and tools used by the peasant society.

The are numerous nuraghi in the neighbourhood.

Geography

Quartu has a long, shallow coastline. It also looks onto the pond of Molentargius, where flamingos and Sultan roosters nest.

Economy

The economy is based on the tertiary industry. Quartu also produces excellent wines, bread and cakes. Although the city is not extremely big, there are many shopping opportunities: Carrefour, E. Leclerc-Conad, Iper Pan.

Festivities

The most important religious festivity is dedicated to Saint Elena and is celebrated on the 14th September.

Translation

The phrase "Quartu Sant'Elena" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Catalan, Czech, Esperanto, Basque, French, Italian, Dutch, Neapolitan, Norwegian (Nynorsk), Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Volapük.

Translation(s) in other languages: Arabic: كوارتو سانت إلينا, Aragonese: Cuartu Sant'Aleni, German: Quartu Sant’Elena, Japanese: クアルトゥ・サンテーレナ, Sardinian: Cuartu Sant'Aleni, Ukrainian: Куарту-Сант'Елена.