DIOCESAN HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
Monsignor Cogoni Street 9
The Diocesan Historical Archive of Cagliari is the most important ecclesiastical archive in Sardinia because of the quantity, age and quality of the documentation it holds. In fact, it collects several archives, produced by various ecclesiastical institutions of very ancient origin, of great importance not only for the Church of Cagliari, whose head was also Primate of Sardinia, but also for the entire Sardinian Church. It houses the oldest documents of Sardinia, dating back to the 12th century; these are the so-called Carte volgari, because they were written in the ancient Sardinian vernacular language. The Archive was housed for several centuries in the premises of the bishop’s palace and remained there until the early eighties of the twentieth century, when, due to the insalubriousness and inadequacy of the rooms, no longer suitable to accommodate the huge amount of documentation sedimented over so many centuries or received from the archives of some suppressed dioceses, it was ordered to be transferred to the premises of the Archiepiscopal Seminary, where it is currently located.
Hours: Sunday, May 6 only, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Guided tours by the Students of the Archdiocesan Seminary.
STATE ARCHIVES
Gallura Street 2
The present monumental headquarters of the State Archives of Cagliari was inaugurated in 1927 and represented in those years one of the first examples of modern archival construction. The origins of the Archives, however, are very ancient: it was created in 1332 by Alfonso il Benigno, King of Aragon, just nine years after the conquerors landed on the island. The records preserved reflect the peculiarity of Sardinian history, as the island had its own political, administrative and judicial institutions until the so-called “perfect fusion” with Piedmont in 1847. Up to this period there is a wealth of archival and cartographic documentation of the fortifications of Cagliari and the entire island. After the Unification of Italy, the Archives was gradually enriched with papers from the peripheral state offices; it also has a rich notarial record, a collection of parchments and important private archives. The Archives is equipped with a study room for the consultation of material, a rich library and other subsidiary services.
Time: Sunday, May 6 only, from 9 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Tours by the Michelangelo State High School of Science and the Archives Staff.
ARCOSTUDIO SPACE
17 Portoscalas Street
Mario Faticoni, inside the historical space on Portoscalas Street, tells the theatrical history of the various companies he founded or hosted, the records of which are contained within the archive declared of cultural historical interest by the Archival Superintendence of Sardinia. From 1959 to the present day, among others, the following have been collected and preserved: posters, playbills, sketches, theater programs, pamphlets, press releases, and material related to shows staged or performed during Faticoni’s career. The archive is currently being reorganized with the support of the chair of Archivistics of the degree course in Art History at the University of Cagliari, which will allow it to be used by scholars and enthusiasts.
Hours: Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.
The guided tour lasts about 15 minutes for a maximum of 10 people at a time.
Edited by the ArcoStudio Association with the sponsorship of the Regional Archival Superintendence.
SARDINIAN UNION ARCHIVES
The Sardinian Union Square
Chronicle and memory. The tour of Unione Sarda unfolds along the two pivotal directions in the life of a newspaper that, with a history behind it of 130 years, remains firmly projected into the future. Sardinia is mirrored in the newspaper, the paper one and the online one, and finds itself – great festivals and deep scars, happy events and immense tragedies – in the archives. There is no fact worthy of being called such that has not been recorded, commented on, analyzed and followed in its evolution. And the contemporary history of this land, told in millions of pages, becomes an engine and reference for the Island’s tomorrow.
Edited by: The Sardinian Union.
Hours: Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6, 11 a.m. and noon; 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
TECHE RAI
The memory of public television
At EXMA, Conference Room, 71 St. Lucifer St.
RAI began its radio broadcasts in 1924 (it was called URI and soon after EIAR) and its television broadcasts in 1954. So we are talking about pages of history and a great tradition even at the European level, which we find in large part in the extraordinary heritage preserved in the “Teche,” archives of everything that was broadcast by TV and radio and their repertoires. In the RAI Teche there are the documents, images and sounds that reconstruct the history of the twentieth century and the first fifteen years of the 2000s, a source that now feeds the programs that are aired daily, but also the teaching of contemporary historians and increasingly enriches museums, exhibitions and cultural festivals throughout the territory. An extraordinary patrimony, now available to all, in which there are numerous audiovisuals concerning Sardinia as told, since its beginnings in 1954, by the great names of journalism and literature.
Time: Saturday, May 5, 12 noon.
Edited by: Giovanni Maria Dettori (RAI headquarters director of Sardinia), Cristina Maccioni (RAI director programmer).
MEM – MEDITERRANEAN MEDIA LIBRARY
Mameli Street
The MEM rose in the historic Stampace district, in the space that was from 1923 for 28 years the scene of Cagliari’s exploits and then from the 1950s the site of the Civic Market. The project involved the creation of a facility of supra-local significance: the Mediterranean Media Library. The MEM is an innovative cultural hub with reception, exhibition and lending areas, commercial spaces, training area, photography laboratory, convention and screening area, and distribution spaces that, with the concurrence of a plurality of subjects, represents a point of reference and comparison for a vast and heterogeneous public. It houses the headquarters of the Historical Archives and the Central General Library and Sardinian Studies.
Time: Saturday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
They will also be open for Open Monuments:
University Historical Archives, at the Rector’s Office Building, 40 University Street.
University Library, 32/a University Street.
Military Documentation Center, at the Ederle Barracks, Calamosca Avenue.
