Iglesias, Sardinia

Iglesias is a town and municipality, as well as the co-capital of the Province of Sulcis Iglesiente in the autonomous island region of Sardinia in Italy. As of 2025, with a population of 24,634, it is also the 2nd-largest town in the province and the 11th-largest in Sardinia.
Under Aragonese and Spanish control Iglesias was one of the most important royal cities on Sardinia, and it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iglesias. At an elevation of in the hills of southwestern Sardinia, it was the centre of a mining district from which lead, zinc, and silver were extracted. Iglesias was also a centre for the distillation of sulfuric acid.

History

Prehistory and ancient history

The area around present-day Iglesias was inhabited in prehistory, with the oldest traces of human settlement dating to the Neolithic. The fourth-millennium-BC domus de Janas, attributed to the Ozieri culture, were discovered in the mountainous region of San Benedetto. Other pre-Nuragic finds attributed to the Monte Claro, Bell Beaker and Bonnanaro cultures were discovered in nearby caves, followed by evidence of a Nuragic, Punic and Roman presence. Ancient Roman sources record a city known as Metalla, perhaps located along Iglesias' border with Fluminimaggiore.

Medieval history

During the ninth century AD, after a period of human absence, a small town arose with a Byzantine church. When the Byzantine influence left Sardinia, the southern part of the island was controlled by the Judicate of Cagliari.
After the fall of the Judicate in 1258, south-western Sardinia was assigned to the Della Gherardesca family; the Cixerri region was controlled by Ugolino della Gherardesca. The count took advantage of the region's silver resources and established a city: Latin: Villa Ecclesiae, renovating old buildings and constructing new ones. The Della Gherardesca family built the medieval Castle of Salvaterra, defence walls, a hospital and an aqueduct.
After Ugolino's March 1289 death in Pisa's Tower of Muda, his Sardinian holdings in the Cixerri reason were inherited by his son, Guelfo della Gherardesca; escaped from Pisa in 1288, he had settled in the Villa di Chiesa. Guelfo, hostile to the Pisan government, tried to seize one-sixth of the former Judicate of Cagliari owned by Gherardo della Gherardesca's heirs and occupied Villamassargia's Castle of Gioiosa Guardia. Pisa's response was swift; in 1295 republican troops, supported by the forces of Marianus II of Arborea, attacked Villa di Chiesa. Guelfo was wounded near Domusnovas; after trying to escape to Sassari, he died from an infection in the hospital of Siete Fuentes. Villa di Chiesa was briefly administered by Arborea before falling under Pisan control between 1301 and 1302.
Under Pisan domination, Villa di Chiesa was one of the most important and populous cities on Sardinia thanks to its lead and silver resources. At the beginning of the 14th century, its mines produced an estimated 10 percent of Europe's circulating silver. The city, primarily inhabited by Sardinians and Pisans, also housed other communities from Tuscany and the Italian Peninsula, Corsica and Germany. The city was governed by the Breve di Villa di Chiesa, its original legal code, a 1327 version of which is preserved in the municipal archives. A mint was established in the city.
Conquered by the Aragonese on February 7, 1324, after an over seven-month siege, Villa di Chiesa was the first Sardinian city to fall to the Iberians and the first city of the new Kingdom of Sardinia to be recognised as a royal city in June 1327. During the Aragonese period, the city's name changed from Villa di Chiesa to Iglesias.
During the transition from Pisan to Aragonese rule, 6,000–7,000 people lived in Villa di Chiesa; however, the Black Plague of 1348 killed much of the population. In late 1353 a revolt began against the Aragon government, siding with Marianus IV of Arborea. After the 1355 peace of Sanluri, the city returned to Aragon; in 1365, with the resumption of a conflict between the Judicate of Arborea and the Kingdom of Sardinia, Villa di Chiesa was recaptured by Marianus IV of Arborea. The city remained in Arborean hands until 1388 when, after the treaty between Eleanor of Arborea and John I of Aragon, it was returned to the Aragonese. In 1391 the city again revolted against the Aragonese, welcoming the judge's army led by Brancaleone Doria. It was seized by the Iberians in the summer of 1409.
In 1436, Alfonso V of Aragon gave the city in fief to Eleonora Carroz for 5,000 gold florins; however, after paying a ransom Villa di Chiesa regained the status of a royal city in 1450.

Modern history

In 1720, after almost 400 years of Aragonese-Spanish rule, the city passed with the rest of Sardinia to the House of Savoy. Since the mid-19th century, thanks to the reopening of nearby mines, Iglesias has experienced a period of economic, social and cultural renewal. Many miners, workers and technicians from elsewhere on Sardinia and northern Italy settled in the city, whose population increased from 5,000 to 6,000 during the 1850s to about 20,000 in the early 20th century. After the Second World War the Sardinian mining sector was in crisis, the effects of which involved the Iglesiente's mines and the town of Iglesias.

Climate

Demographics

As of 2025, Iglesias has a population of 24,634, of whom 48.3% are male and 51.7% are female. Minors make up 10.7% of the population, and seniors make up 29.8%, compared to the Italian average of 14.9% and 24.7% respectively.
As of 2024, the foreign-born population is 513, equal to 2.1% of the population. The 5 largest foreign nationalities are Romanians, Senegalese, Chinese, Moroccans and Nigerians.

Country

Population

Romania

Economy

Iglesias' economy has waxed and waned because it has been largely focused on mineral resources. During the 21st century, with little surviving mining activity, the town has tried to emphasise industrial tourism and medieval tourism with a medieval parade, a tournament of archers and a living game of chess.

Sights

Castle of Salvaterra

The Castle of Salvaterra was probably built as part of urbanization after 1258 under Ugolino della Gheradesca. It was designed as a bulwark from which to survey the town and its surroundings as far as the silver mines.
In 1297 Sardinia and Corsica were made subject to the Crown of Aragon by Pope Boniface VIII, but were not taken possession until 1324. The castle of San Guantino changed its name to Salvaterra and its status; a 1325 stone slab calls it castris regalis, a royal castle.
The square castle's northern and eastern sides, built in courses of stone alternating with brick, seem to adhere to the original medieval plan and confer solidity. It had a chapel dedicated first to San Guantino and later to Eulalia of Barcelona. The castle well has been rebuilt in its internal courtyard.

Santa Chiara Cathedral

Construction of the Santa Chiara Cathedral was an initiative for demographic and urban development undertaken by the Donoratico della Gherardesca family. The cathedral has a variety of architectural styles. Over the centuries it has been transformed several times by successive rulers or restoration, particularly during the 19th century). The cathedral's façade, with a pitched roof, is divided into two parts by a horizontal, moulded cornice at the level of the architrave over the doorway.
It has a large nave with six side chapels, and a cross-vaulted roof supported on pillars with carved capitals. The cathedral's bell tower houses a 1337 Andrea Pisano bronze bell; the tower was plastered and its spire added in 1862. The Museum of Sacred Art is in the cathedral's crypt.
In the late Twentieth century the church was closed in order to undergo a restoration that will last until 2013. During the restoration, the floor tiles made of white marble and the Nineteenth century altar were removed.

Church of San Francesco

The Church of San Francesco has a gabled façade with smooth stonework; the door in its centre is surmounted by a rose window and flanked by two side oculi. Its wood-ceilinged nave is divided into seven bays, flanked by seven side chapels; the chapels and the presbytery were added during the 16th century. The chapels all have simple cross vaulting, except for the Crucifix Chapel. The stone choir replaced the original wooden choir, which was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century. The church has a marble font and artworks in the chapels, including a retablo by Antioco Mainas. The monastery, with the San Francesco Cloister, was annexed to the church during the 16th century.

Church of Santa Maria di Valverde

The Church of Santa Maria di Valverde is outside the town walls and nearly contemporary with the cathedral, with similar style and structure. Like the cathedral, it has a typical Romanesque style with Gothic features. The church's façade underwent conservation and restoration until the twentieth century. Built of pink trachyte ashlar, it is divided into two parts by a horizontal, moulded cornice. Its nave originally had a lower, wooden roof; it ends in a large, square, cross-vaulted presbytery with four pendants. The central pendant, larger than the others, depicts the Madonna and child.

Medieval fortifications

walls surround the city's historic centre, following its irregular outline and using its incline with the Castle of Salvaterra. Although urban expansion led to the incorporation of several stretches of wall into private homes, the remnants retain the features of medieval military fortifications: blind façades of mixed stones arranged in horizontal courses to create an uneven mass, providing resistance to attack. With 23 towers, the walls could be passed through four gateways: Porta Maestra, Porta Castello, Porta Sant Antonio and Porta Nuova.