The rocca di Castello stands at the highest part of the city and is one of Cagliari’s historic neighborhoods. The different dominations that have succeeded one another in the rocca have left visible urban and architectural traces that characterize the ancient neighborhood. The origin of its urbanization lies between 1216 and 1217 when Lamberto Visconti, a native of Pisa, had forced the reluctant Calaritan “judges” to grant a group of Pisan entrepreneurs a license to build a stronghold of about twenty hectares that they called Castel di Castro di Calari. Among the ancient streets of the area, via Genovesi and via Lamarmora, we find the palaces of the city’s noblest families, buildings of a certain modesty under Pisani that with the arrival of the Aragonese in the 14th century were enriched with wooden galleries, facades with windows and doors with Gothic decorations. The mansions usually had three floors. The master family occupied the “noble floor,” which could be the first or the second. The route winds between La Marmora and Genovesi streets highlighting architectural features and the history of the listed mansions:
Siotto Palace, 114 Genovesi Street.
Amat Palace, 93 Lamarmora Street.
Pruna Palace, Charles Albert Square, corner of Lamarmora Street
Delitala Palace, 62/66 Lamarmora Street.
Aymerich Palace, 48 Lamarmora Street.
Boyl Palace, De Candia Street.
Zapata Palace, Lamarmora Street, corner of Genovesi Street.
Palazzo De Candia, Via dei Genovesi, 8/18.
