The Provveditorato della Opere Pubbliche entrusts, to Flavio Scano together with Angelo Binaghi and Aldo Pacca, the design and direction of works for one of the most important construction projects carried out by the institution in Cagliari: the Palazzo della Legione dei Carabinieri. From a historical account compiled by an anonymous marshal of the Carabinieri we read, “the construction that involved the expenditure of 6,400,000 Lire was entrusted to the company An.It. Ferrobeton, under the personal direction of Engineer Aldo Pacca, and the work began on December 10, 1930, and was completed in March 1933.”
The design for the Palace of the Legion, submitted in the fall of 1930, was finally approved by the technical office of the Cagliari City Council on January 31, 1931, and the building was inaugurated with special solemnity two years later, on April 21, 1933. The Legion occupies an area of 7,800 square meters, with the solemn main elevation on Sonnino Street, is arranged on four floors, and features limestone and cement mortar masonry with artificial stone decorations. Scano’s choice to represent the functions and merits of the Carabinieri Force through images related to the iconographic universe of Romanity responds to a cultural and political program imposed by the fascist dictatorship. In fact, four bronze statues rest on the cornice, the work of Ogliastra sculptor Albino Manca (1897-1976), also the author of five bronze medallions, all of which are embedded in the facade. Manca’s colossal statues symbolize “The Fascist Age, Justice, The New Youth, and Duty.” Behind them, stands a historic motto of the Weapon: pro patria contra omnes – pro me contra neminem: “Usi obbedir tacendo e tacendo morir.”
