Photo: trolvag · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Torre di San Pancrazio

Pisan tower of 1305, 37 metres high, guarding Cagliari’s Castello quarter; currently closed for restoration.

Temporarily closed

Temporarily closed. The tower is temporarily closed to the public for restoration works; no reopening date has been announced.

About the museum

The tower of San Pancrazio was designed by the architect Giovanni Capula in the early 14th century and completed in 1305. It was built by the Pisans, together with the twin Torre dell’Elefante (Elephant Tower), to defend the entrances to the Castello quarter, the seat of the city’s political, military and religious power. The name probably derives from the former name of the present church of San Lorenzo, in Viale Buoncammino, which in the Pisan period was dedicated to Saint Pancras (San Pancrazio).

After the arrival of the Aragonese, between 1323 and 1327, the south side was closed off to use the internal spaces as storerooms and homes for Spanish officials. At the beginning of the 16th century the construction of the Bastione del Dusay in front of the doorway deprived the tower of its function as the main entrance, and the tower was converted into a prison, active until the end of the 19th century. In 1903 a complete restoration returned it to its original Pisan appearance.

The tower rises 37 metres, divided into four floors on timber mezzanines; the terrace, at 130 metres above sea level, is the highest point of the city and was used by General Alberto Della Marmora as the zero point for drawing the map of Sardinia. On the north side there are eight loopholes, and on the outside the coats of arms of the Pisan castellans can be seen. The site is temporarily closed for restoration works.