The headquarters of the Liceo Classico, located behind the Palace of Justice at the foot of Mount Urpino, is the first building planned in Cagliari as a high school, but its origins date back to the Real Collegio di S. Teresa, founded in 1852 on the former Jesuit school after their expulsion from the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1848. It was located in today’s Piazza Dettori of the Marina district in the building that was later occupied by the “Siotto Pintor” Classical High School, the High School of Art and, today, hosts exhibitions and performances by various associations. The Regio Liceo-Ginnasio di S. Teresa was born as a result of the Casati Law of 1859 and assumed its name after Giovanni Maria Dettori (1773 -1836), professor of moral theology at the University of Turin, with a solemn celebration on the morning of May 14, 1865. The gradual growth of students led to the elevation of one floor in 1912, but the problematic condition of the building still suggested some new, unrealized projects in 1919 and 1933. Finally in 1951 a sum was allocated for the new building, which was actually based on the “R. Franchetti” classical high school in Mestre, built in 1940 (Civil Engineer Maurizio Bufalini). It has a wide façade, dominated by a tall central pronaos and clad in travertine, which, however, alternates with brick infill in the side wings, with monumental features reminiscent of the architecture derived from Marcello Piacentini, also visible in the nearby Palace of Justice. Built by successive lots, the high school housed its first classes from 1955 until its final move in the 1956-57 school year. In February 1963, the indoor gymnasium and lecture hall, capable of seating about 500, were opened. Today it also houses special classrooms such as computer and language labs, the amphitheater physics classroom, and the new chemistry lab. Valuable books in the “S. Broccia” Library and old scientific instruments are kept there, The only reminder of the old location is the plaque for students who fell during World War I (designed by Felice Melis Marini with an epigraph by Liborio Azzolina), which was reassembled on the inside wall of the school entrance.
