Of the Castle of Sanluri, the only medieval manor house still intact and habitable in all of Sardinia, the exact date of construction is known since the master-book of the Archives of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona […] “which contains wages and salaries of the workers who worked on the first installation of the fortress, built from July 10 to 27, 1355 by the Catalan ruler Peter IV.”
The Giudicale Castle, with its square shape of about 27×27 meters and its crenellated turrets, is situated in a little elevated position with respect to the built-up area and, for this reason, not being easily defensible, and being in the most critical position in the history of the island in the second half of the 14th century during the war between Aragon and Arborea, it often found itself at the center of the war events of that historical period.
Since the second half of the 20th century it has been erroneously called “Eleanor of Arborea’s,” but there is no confirmation that the Arborean princess ever lived there.
Currently, the castle is owned by the Villasanta Counts and inside it. are home to various sections and museum collections, most notably one dedicated to the Risorgimento and World War I.
