Cagliari, Civic Palace

The building occupies the entire block with the main front on Via Roma and the other sides on the streets G.M. Angioy and Crispi and Largo Carlo Felice.
Long events accompanied the choice of the area and the construction of the building until the national competition launched in 1896 and awarded to the “Palmas” project signed by the Turin-based engineer Crescentino Caselli, modern in structure and form, as opposed to many projects that took up historical styles of the past, now outdated. In reality, the “Palmas” project, signed only by Caselli, was also due to the architect Annibale Rigotti, who had to resort to legal action to recognize his merits. The first is attributed the most distinctly structural part, from the foundations to the roofs, while the second has the most innovative elements in the elevations and in the decorative apparatus.
After the foundation stone was solemnly placed in the presence of King Umberto and Queen Margherita on April 14, 1899, the official installation of the City Council took place in 1915.
The aerial bombardment of February 26, 1943 seriously damaged the building on the side of Via Crispi, causing the iron and glass roof of the inner courtyard and the marble staircase to collapse. A significant part of the rich decoration and interior furnishings created by the major Sardinian artists of the early twentieth century, such as Filippo Figari, Felice Melis Marini and Francesco Ciusa, was also lost.
The reconstruction took place between 1946 and 1953, with the exception of the roof of the courtyard of honor.
The building, made of limestone, stands out for the two octagonal towers above the main façade, which is spread over three levels with large low-arched windows, divided by pillars. A partially crisscrossed porch has a rich and artistic wrought-iron gate that leads into the courtyard. Here, a large grand staircase leads to the upper floors, where the council chamber, meeting rooms and offices are located.
Inside, placed in the various rooms, you can see paintings by Filippo Figari (1916-24), Giovanni Marghinotti (19th century), a sixteenth-century altarpiece from the Stampace School, a Flemish tapestry, dating back to the seventeenth century, and more marble and bronze busts.

Bibliography
V. Borasi, “On the artistic authorship of the Municipal Palace of Cagliari”, in Bulletin of the Piedmontese Society of Archaeology and Fine Arts, n.s., XIV-XV, 1960, pp. 169-180; P. Marconi-N.
Zedda, “Crescentino Caselli in the Cagliari City Hall”, in L'Architettura, 109, 1964, pp. 488-496; P. Marconi-N.
Zedda, “Annibale Rigotti and the Municipal Palace of Cagliari”, in L'Architettura, 113, 1965, pp. 772-776;
S. Naitza, The Civic Palace of Cagliari, Cagliari, Fossataro, 1971;
M. Pintus, The relief of the Municipal Palace of Cagliari, 1981;
“The restoration of the Municipal Palace of Cagliari”, in The Construction Industry, 147, 1984, pp. 22-32; G. Altea-M.
Magnani, Early 20th century painting and sculpture, series “History of art in Sardinia”, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1995, pp. 99-129; G. Loddo, Cagliari.
Architecture from 1900 to 1945, Cagliari, Coedisar, 1999, p. 21;
F. Masala, Architecture from the Unification of Italy to the End of the 20th Century. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2001, sheet 20;
F. Masala, Paper architectures. Projects for Cagliari (1800-1945), Cagliari, AM&D, 2002, pp. 110-121.