Villino San Lorenzo, so named because of the presence of the adjoining church of San Lorenzo, is also known as Villino Delitala, in reference to the family that owned it until the 1960s, or Villa Cocco, named after the current owners.
Although references on the date of construction are lacking, a panoramic photograph from the late 19th century in which the profile of the then newly completed Buoncammino prison appears, shows us the presence of the villa’s turret.
The building’s design is attributed to Dionigi Scano (1867 – 1949), one of the most important architects who worked in Cagliari and Sardinia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, who built it in a sober Art Nouveau style, combined with neo-Gothic references.
The entrepreneurial bourgeoisie, which from the late 19th century undermined the dominance of Cagliari’s old nobility, seemed to want to turn its back on the Castello district, and built its residences in the rural areas bordering the city, ushering in the birth of villas, parks and gardens, traces of which are still clearly visible today in the areas of Viale Buoncammino, as well as in Viale Trento and Via Milano.
The drawing room is the heart of the Villa and reflects the full establishment of the hegemony of the bourgeois class, transforming from a conversation room to a closed and exclusive place, characterized by a central element: the library.
In the drawing room are oil portraits of Dr. Giovanni Cocco, owner of the Villa, and his father, Dr. Luigi Cocco, both radiology physicians and owners of one of the first X-ray studios on the Island.
Also on display are Giovanni Cocco’s radiology graduation parchment from 1938, which features the symbols and inscriptions of the Kingdom of Italy during Fascism, and the focus tube (1914), one of the first instruments used to take radiographs.
