Villacidro’s cemetery, designed by architect Gaetano Cima (1805-1878), begun in 1836 and inaugurated in 1842, stands in the area of “Pardu de Campsantu,” an area once significantly named “Campu de s’Erbutzu” or “de su cardilloni,” or asphodel, a plant that in the ancient world was associated with the cult of the dead.
The new cemetery was built under the influence of the Napoleonic Edict of Saint-Cloud (1804), whose regulations provided for burials outside the walls for sanitary needs. The cemetery has a rectangular plan, surrounded by a wall with the main front punctuated by a gabled entrance and two side openings. Inside you can find the tombs of Mayor Giuseppe Pinna Curreli, from whom Giuseppe Dessì drew inspiration for Angelo Uras, the protagonist of Paese d’ombre; Giuseppe Dessì himself; writer Salvator Angelo Spano, the work of Villacidrese sculptor Efisio Cadoni; and numerous other important figures in Villacidrese history.
