Cagliari, Railway Station

Cagliari's train station is located at the foot of the historic district of Stampace. Not long before its construction, the area was open countryside. The place where it was erected is located in front of what used to be the landing called “S'Arriba de sa Palla”, one of many on the beach in the town called “Sa Perdixedda”: here the landing was carried out by boats almost with their sails unfolded in order to have enough thrust to carry the bow as far as possible underground to carry out the unloading without the need for auxiliary boats or bridges.
The Cagliari railway station, in its current headquarters, was inaugurated on 23 July 1879, even though at the beginning of the work it was at the docking of the ships carrying the materials from England.
As soon as it was built, the station had a smooth tympanum: later the tympanum was enriched with friezes, while in front of Piazza Matteotti, still owned by the railway, a garden was built.
In the period between the two wars, the station was raised and the two large side terraces were eliminated: a building was also added along Via Roma and one inside the FS property. During the last war, the station was seriously damaged by bombs.
In the atrium, the steam locomotive D 744.003 is on display, and in the station complex you can visit the Railway Museum, built in 1985 as evidence of industrial archeology with photos, maps, period drawings, models of bridges and locomotives, the working model of the Gennargentu ferry, wall safes with secret opening and the living room of Vittorio Emanuele III's royal carriage.

Bibliography
F. Masala, Architecture from the Unification of Italy to the End of the 20th Century. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2001, sheet 46.