Prehistory and ancient history of
Monte d'Accoddi Although Sassari was founded in the
early Middle Ages, the surrounding area has been inhabited since the
Neolithic age, and throughout
ancient history, by the
Nuragics and the
Romans. Many archaeological sites and ancient ruins are located inside or around the town: the prehistoric
step pyramid of
Monte d'Accoddi, a large number of Nuraghes and
Domus de Janas (Fairy Houses), the ruins of a Roman aqueduct, the ruins of a Roman villa discovered under San Nicholas Cathedral, and a portion of the ancient road that connected the Latin city of
Turris Libisonis with
Caralis. In the locality of
Fiume Santo is also found a fossil site where an
Oreopithecus bambolii, a prehistoric anthropomorphic primate, was discovered, dated at 8.5 million years.
Middle Ages and
Sardinian The origin of the city remains uncertain. Among the theses, according to folk tradition the first village was founded around the 9th–10th century AD by the inhabitants of the ancient Roman port of
Turris Libisonis (current
Porto Torres), who sought refuge in the mainland to escape the
Saracen attacks from the sea. It developed from the merger of a number of separate villages, such as San Pietro di Silki, San Giacomo di Taniga, and San Giovanni di Bosove. The oldest mention of the village is in an 1131 document in the archive of the Monastery of St. Peter in Silki where is cited a man named
Jordi de Sassaro (George of Sassari), a serf from the nearby village of Bosove. Sassari was sacked by the
Genoese in 1166. Immigration continued until, in the early 13th century, it was the most populous city in the
Giudicato of Torres, and its last capital. After the assassination of
Michele Zanche, the latter's last ruler in 1275, Sassari became subject to the
Republic of Pisa with a semi-independent status. In 1284, the Pisans were defeated by the
Genoese fleet at the
Battle of Meloria, and the city was able to free itself: it became the
Republic of Sassari, the first and only early independent renaissance city-state of Sardinia, with statutes of its own, allied to Genoa; the Genoese were pleased to see it thus withdrawn from Pisan control. Its statutes of 1316 are remarkable for the leniency of the penalties imposed when compared with the penal laws of the Middle Ages. , 1880, Sassari From 1323, the Republic of Sassari decided to side with the King of Aragon, in whose hands it remained for much of the following centuries, though the population revolted at least three times. The revolts ceased when King
Alfonso V of Aragon nominated the town as a Royal Burg, directly ruled by the King and free from feudal taxation, during a period in which it may have been the most populous city in Sardinia. Further attempts made by
Genoa to conquer the city failed. In 1391 it was conquered by
Brancaleone Doria and
Marianus V of Arborea, of the independent Sardinian
Giudicato of Arborea, of which it became the last capital. However, in 1420, the city was sold along with the remaining territory for 100,000
florins to the Crown of Aragon, replaced by Spain after 1479 on the joining of the Aragonese and Castilian thrones.
Renaissance The city alternated years of crisis, featuring economic exploitation, the decrease of the
maritime trade, made unsafe by the daily raids of
Saracen pirates, political corruption of its rulers, the sacking of Sassari in 1527 by the French, and two plagues in 1528 and 1652, with periods of cultural and economic prosperity. The
Jesuits founded the first Sardinian
university in Sassari in 1562. In the same year, the first
printing press was introduced and the ideals of
Renaissance humanism became more widely known. Several artists of the
Mannerist and
Flemish schools practiced their art in the city.
Modern history , the Emissary of the
Viceroy enters Sassari (1795). After the end of the Spanish period following the European wars of the early 18th century, the brief period of
Austrian rule (1708–1717) was succeeded by domination by the Piedmontese, who then took over the title of
Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861). In 1795 an anti-feudal uprising broke out in the town, led by the Emissary of the
Viceroy Giovanni Maria Angioy, a Sardinian civil servant, who later fought unsuccessfully against the
house of Savoy. The city was occupied by troops at the time. The dynasty of the Piedmontese King of Sardinia went on to the monarchs of Italy. Sassari, along with the rest of Italy, became part of the newly created
Kingdom of Italy. At the end of the 18th century, the
university was restored. In 1836, after six hundred years, the
medieval walls were partially demolished, allowing the town to expand. New urban plans were developed, on the model of the capital of the new regime (
Turin), with geometric streets and squares. Sassari became an important industrial center. In the 19th century, it was the second most important town in what was to become the future Italy for the production of
leather, and in 1848 the Sassarese entrepreneur
Giovanni Antonio Sanna gained control of the mine at
Montevecchio, becoming the third richest man in the new Kingdom of Italy. The first railway was opened in 1872. In 1877, the old
Aragonese castle was demolished, and on the site the "Caserma La Marmora" was built, where the headquarters of "
Brigata Sassari" is still located. Founded in 1915, it still consists mainly of Sardinian soldiers. At the end of the 19th century, new urban developments grew on Cappuccini Hill and to the south of the city, architecturally dominated by
Eclecticism,
Art Nouveau and
Art Deco styles, which created a movement towards the hybrid experimentation of new local architectural styles, known as the
Sassarese Liberty. During the Fascist dictatorship, the town had over fifty thousand inhabitants and new neighbourhoods were built, the most important of these being Monte Rosello and Porcellana, typical examples of
Rationalist Architecture. On the other hand, the newspaper
La Nuova Sardegna, considered subversive, was closed down. During the
Second World War three Allied attempts to bomb the town failed: only the railway station was damaged, and there was only one casualty. The 8th Stage of the
2023 Giro Donne finished at Salassa on 8 July. ==Geography==