Cagliari, Bastion of Saint-Remy

The spectacular building, which overlooks Piazza Coszione, has the task of connecting the Castle with the lower part of the city and is the result of the leveling and reuse of the ancient bastions of the Sperone and the Mint, built by the Spanish in the second half of the 16th century.
The Saint Remy Bastion, built between 1896 and 1902, is due to the municipal engineers Fulgenzio Setti and Giuseppe Costa on an idea already proposed in the mid-nineteenth century by the architect Gaetano Cima.
The main staircase, long and busy, winds from Piazza Coszione with several ramps that meet at half height in a landing that gives entrance to the covered Promenade. This is spread out on the side along Viale Regina Elena with vast and bright rooms, painted in bright colors and closed by large arches with fixtures placed only in 1985.
Under a large arch that dominates the entire building, there is an additional staircase with two circular ramps that leads to the Umberto I Terrace from which you can enjoy a magnificent view of the city and towards the sea. The vast square has two other ramps that lead to the next bastion of Santa Caterina, on which the homonymous elementary school overlooks.
It was a lively meeting and meeting place until the Second World War when it was violently bombed and half destroyed. After the war, it was restored according to the original design.

History of studies
A review of studies can be found in the bibliography relating to the fact sheet in the volume of the “History of Art in Sardinia” on nineteenth-century architecture (2001).

Bibliography by
F. Masala, “Urban Spaces”, in Cagliari Historic Districts. Castello, Cinisello Balsamo, A. Pizzi, 1985, pp. 43-55; G. Loddo, Cagliari. Architectures from 1900 to 1945, Cagliari, Coedisar, 1999, p. 20;
F. Masala, Architecture from the Unification of Italy to the end of the 20th century. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2001, sheet 21.