The visit will provide insight into the history and architecture of the symbolic square in Villacidro’s historic center. Starting with the history and architecture of the fountain that stands in the center of the square, known as the Piazza Zampillo, passing through the old Casa Cogotti (now home to the Literary Café) to the Ex Monte Granatico that houses the Archaeological Museum of Villacidro “Villa Leni.” Piazza XX Settembre represents one of the favorite places for villacidresi to meet and welcome visitors, with municipal facilities hosting cultural events, educational workshops and performances. The Literary Café, until a few years ago known as Casa Cogotti, named after the previous owners who belonged to one of Villacidro’s most influential and wealthy families, is now municipal property. The building element that best characterizes it is undoubtedly the elevation that faces the Piazza XX Settembre with an architectural language reminiscent of the Neoclassical period.
The former Monte Granatico, an important showcase of local material culture and historical-archaeological experience, first restored in the early 1980s and late 1990s, was opened in 2003. The recent renovation in 2024, due to conservation and maintenance needs of the museum structure, will allow the reopening of the museum site declared in 2007 as “of cultural historical and artistic interest” by the Regional Directorate of MiBAC.
