Thanks to a substantial donation from the Bishop of Oristano, Sassarese’s Antonio Canopolo, in 1611 construction began along the city walls on the first body of the new Jesuit College or University. It was structured around the central courtyard on which the study rooms gravitated. In 1625 work resumed on the expansion of the complex to which the religious houses and the adjoining church of St. Joseph were added, completed in 1651. The body of the factory underwent several transformations with the demolition of the church. In 1927 the elevation and the inner portico were modified. The rear façade on the public gardens is imposing and compact, following a model of grandiose simplicity inspired by the Escorial complex in Madrid. It is characterized by a sequence of large rectangular windows surrounded by cornices and buttresses connected by arches over which the balcony of the movable floor runs. From 1782, part of the complex’s premises was used for the Royal Tobacco Factory and is currently owned by the University. This wing of the complex incorporated parts of the medieval city wall of which the rear part of the so-called Round Tower can be seen. Displayed under the courtyard arcades and in the corridors are inscriptions and busts commemorating the important people who made the prestigious college illustrious through their scholarly work and actions. Recently, the university’s extremely rich library, which holds more than a million volumes and manuscripts, was moved to the historic building of the former Santissima Annunziata Civil Hospital in Rijeka Square. Now the rooms of the old library are used as exhibition spaces.
