The area in which Villa Clara is located, now home to the Metropolitan Library, is an area rich in history and environmental beauty. Its millennia-long history begins with the civilization of the Eneolithic period (2700-2200 B.C.) known as the “Monte Claro Culture,” characterized by flourishing ceramic handicrafts. The site shows continuity of frequentation from Roman times, up to medieval evidence when the area, of agricultural vocation, was chosen for the construction of monastic settlements, around which the rural village developed. Principally from the Middle Ages until the 1800s, vines and olive trees were cultivated in the Monte Claro region.
In 1904, the estate was purchased by the Province of Cagliari for the building of the new asylum, while Villa Clara was used as the director’s quarters. The hill became the agricultural colony that contributed to the livelihood of the psychiatric facility. In 1978 the Basaglia Law mandated the abolition of asylums, and in 1998 the last residents left the hospital facility.
In recent years, the provincial administration has devoted considerable planning and financial efforts to rehabilitating the area and returning the large park and the facilities within it to public use. The Province (now the Metropolitan City of Cagliari) has enhanced the area it owns with the Monte Claro Park and Library System, with the Lussu Library in Villa Clara, transferred in 2013 and opened in 2014, and the other specialized libraries.
