La demolizione delle fortificazioni “alla moderna” nella Cagliari del secondo Ottocento

The demolition of the fortifications is a key event in the development of contemporary cities. Large expansion plans establish complex and sometimes conflicting relationships with military architecture: the defensive structures become physical obstacles to building dynamics and real estate speculation and to the image of the emerging avenues, but, at the same time, the values of their monumentality and historical memory begin to be understood and preserved. In other cases, the demolition of defensive structures is only partial, given the structural advantages guaranteed by walls and bulwarks, if incorporated within the new building. In many cases, the decommissioning or reuse of the fortifications is preceded by long negotiations between the state and municipal authorities.In the case of Cagliari, the decommissioning of the fortress, in 1866, triggered a long sequence of building initiatives, aimed at demolishing bastions, gates or small sections of walls, to allow the opening of new roads or the construction of stately homes and large public buildings. These events, largely unpublished, are reconstructed thanks to the contribution of archive or photographic sources, to which are added the first photographic, evidences capable of immortalizing, in a timely manner, now disappeared portions of the ancient fortifications. The decisive role of the Civil Engineers and the Municipal Technical Office emerges clearly from the manuscripts and drawings. The contribution of state and civic experts broadens the panorama of the protagonists involved, to whom we owe the implementation and modifications to the Piano di Abbellimento della Città di Cagliari, drawn up by the architect Gaetano Cima - 1858-1861 -, author of the first urban development of the city.