Palaces and Churches
Starting from the Dante promenade you come across the Cristoforo Colombo and Marco Polo seafronts, where a number of ancient fortresses stand. Not far from the flight of steps taking you to the old “Porta a Mare”, an imposing fortification called “Forte de La Magdalena” rises, dating to the Spanish period with a plaque on its walls recalling Garibaldi’s landing here on 14 August 1855.
The Cathedral of Alghero was built in the XIV century but took on its present appearance halfway through the sixteenth century. The architectural style is late–Gothic, of Catalonian inspiration and the structure is surmounted by an octagonal bell-tower. Inside, there is a great difference between the structure of the central body (late Renaissance) and the shape of the sixteenth century Gothic presbytery.
However, the Church of San Francesco is the most noteworthy Catalonian monument in the whole of Sardinia. Probably built at the end of the 15th century and then partially reconstructed after part of it collapsed at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the church shows all the different building phases. There is a rectangular cloister divided into arches placed on cylindrical and octagonal pillars. The façade presents a 16th century portal, equipped with a Franciscan escutcheon surrounded by ornamental designs and surmounted by a rose window. Means of arches placed on pillars divide the interior into a nave and two side aisles, which are in white sandstone; there are some side chapels, the polygonal apse and several wooden altars from the Baroque period. The pentagonal presbytery dates back to the oldest construction phase of the building; it presents a stellar vault that can be reached through a triumphal arch; an eighteenth century altar stands under this Gothic studded ceiling. You can appreciate a rich repertoire of sculptured ornamentations with both phytomorph and anthropomorphic representations, according to the Catalan Gothic iconographical tradition. The dome, covered with polychromatic tiles, has become the symbol of the town.
In the historical centre of the city, near the Cathedral, is situated the Diocesan Museum Of Sacred Art. Inaugurated on June 30, 2002, it keeps the Cathedral’s liturgical treasure as well as that all historical churches in the city. Its collection is divided into six sections: silverware, paintings, wooden sculptures, wood carving, stony material and bronzes.
Silverware section: particularly valuable is the reliquary of the True Cross, shaped by an unknown silversmith from Alger in 1500. Then, an amazing late sixteenth-century astylar cross, created by a workshop in Saragossa. Furthermore, there are a chalice with mounting corals and a filigree monstrance, both dating to the seventeenth-century and made by some Sicilian hands.
Wood carving section: it includes a large wood inlaid baroque tabernacle, coming from the church of San Giovanni Battista, a typical example of the severe Capuchin wood carving.
Wooden sculptures section: in this area stand out several simulacra depicting saints and the Virgin.
The golden statue representing the Madonna dei Naviganti is also significant; it was made by an unknown Catalan woodcarver in the 15th century. There is also a gigantic San Michele Arcangelo (St. Michael the Archangel) dating to the end of the seventeenth century.
Stony material and bronzes: a marble statue portraying the Madonna Della Misericordia (Lady of Mercy) testifies how the late Ligurian manneristical culture spread across Sardinia in the early seventeenth century.
The bronzes’ collection includes two bells, one of which comes from the Cathedral’s bell tower and dates to the 15th century.
Paintings: among several pictures going back to the 16th and 17th century,
there is the altar step in the retable of the Annunciation coming from the little church of Speranza, located in the countryside around Alghero and ascribed to a painter with some Catalan education probably active in the early 16th century. The Holy Family with San Giovannino is attributed, instead, to an anonymous Sardinian maker who lived in the17th century.
Finally, it is remarkable the series of paintings, ascribable to a mid-17th century Genoese painter who took the lives of Jesus and the Virgin from Rubens scenes.
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