Urban Planning and New Towns in Medieval Sardinia

The historic centers of Sardinian towns and villages have preserved much of their medieval urban structure, which resulted from important urban renewal projects undertaken between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Over time, successive authorities layered new architecture and new urban projects upon the first nuclei, and modern buildings have concealed their complex mesh of signs and languages. As a consequence, it is not always straightforward to recognize the medieval urban landscape that has come down to us. However, we can reconstruct the planning and architecture with the help of historic cartography, land registers, as well as historic documents, archaeological fragments embedded in walls, and the study of the era’s architecture. In the near absence of direct documentation of town planning during the Middle Ages, the use of stylistic and critical comparisons provides the basis on which to date those projects that created streets, squares, and neighborhoods. This information demonstrates that the medieval town was the result of political programs and plans that were often as complex as modern ones, and they were supported by considerable economic effort and implemented by experienced builders in accordance with the era’s technical and design principles.