The Viale Sicilia Railway complex, now the headquarters of the ARST Railway Headquarters and Depot, houses buildings, plants and old equipment bearing witness to the glorious past of Sardinia’s Secondary Railways. It represents an important historical heritage for our city: the Ex-Exercise Directorate Building, built between 1930 and 1932, an example of architecture from the Fascist period, with Art Nouveau references inside, the two 1930 Breda steam locomotives, a vintage carriage, a 1930s hand-operated turntable for reversing the direction of locomotives, a 1920s crane, a weighbridge, the Saddlery, Workshop and Reserves Room that echo the architectural style of the directorate. Inside the complex is an underground air raid shelter, which is partly walkable and once connected to the one in Sacred Heart Square. Along the route, the imposing villa, residence of Count Pasquini, owner of the railway company until 1970, will be visible. The itinerary will end at the middle school complex in Via Pavese, the only school in Sardinia that houses in its garden a sculpture by master Pinuccio Sciola, internationally known for his “sound stones.” Also inside is a bas-relief by ceramist and painter Piero Arturi (Lucidori), formerly a teacher at the Art Institute and a student of Tilocca; and finally, a painting by Costantino Spada, a very popular painter from Sassari, portraitist and landscape painter as well as the author of the frescoes in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
