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Story of Castiadas from the Middle Ages to 1956
According to research carried out by the Council of Cagliari
on certain ruins scattered around the district, a number of Punic
and Roman settlements have been identified and marked out, in
the Cala Pira and Santa Giusta areas.
A series of archaeological components have left behind a fine
nuragic complex in the area, as well as villages, menhirs, “domus
de janas” and tombs of giants, with settements verifiable
from the nuragic to the medieval era.
Castiadas is one of the communities of the “Sarrabus”(derives
from “Sarcapos”), which according to the “Itinerarium
Antonimi” from the C3rd BC, was an important trade centre,
used by the Phoenicians as a stop-off on the way to Etruria, later
passing into the hands of the Romans.
In the medieval period, Villanova Castiadas was under the jurisdiction
of the judges of Cagliari and with the Aragonese conquest it was
administered first by the Quiterans, a Catalan family which died
out in 1361, and subsequently by the Carroz.
Other discoveries have established that in 1316, some areas of
Castiadas were under the control of the “Tolostrai”,
a people who normally resided in the San Pietro region near the
mountains of Villacastiadas. To defend these villages and ward
off the incursions of barbarian pirates, a series of look-out
towers, armed with artillery, was built in the C16th. The ruins
were finally abandoned in 1584.
At the end of the 14th century, then, the centre of Villanova
Castiadas was created in the Sarrabus, yet, within a hundred years,
because of the frequent malaria epidemics and the Plague, it was
abandoned and remained so for around 350 years.
In the first half half of 19th century the Sardinian regional
authorities deplored the presence of the “contaminated”
territories, since they were potential sites for agriculture and
breeding. The economic burden required for the decontamination,
however, scared off many public officials, who were not able to
provide the funds for the drainage systems. It was, therefore,
necessary to find a system to reduce, at least in part, the costs.
In 1871 the General Management of the Prisons in Rome began to
suggest different possibilities for the establishment of new farming
penal colonies on the island, aimed at reclaiming vast marshlands
with the installation of drains.
In January 1875, several officials, with the help of technicians
from the Civil engineers in Cagliari, considered different places
in Sardinia, finally selecting Castiadas, a totally run-down and
depopulated area.
On 2nd June 1875 the head of the civil engineers, Bertolini Giovanni
Carmelo, visited the region, riding on horseback through more
than 30km of difficult paths and, after several months, he was
joined by his colleague Tito Luciano. Together they explored the
areas of Santa Giusta, Cala Sinzias and Gutturu Frascu.
Next to reach the chosen area was Barile Giorgio, topographer,
who prepared the first detailed map of the area, detailing more
than 6523 hectares for the colony’s use.
According to the plans sent on to the Treasury, the location of
the building was to be an elevated and possibly exposed spot,
near a source of water and a long way from any means of communication.
Best fitting the bill was Praidis.
At the beginning of June 1875, dozens of workmen landed, led by
two expert carpenters, to construct the first cabins. However,
the operation immediately ran into difficulties.
The workforce demonstrated little enthusiasm, for the place, for
the work itself which was poorly paid, for the risks involved
in being in a contaminated area and, according to some, also because
it was frequented by smugglers. Such accusations were swiftly
denied by the prison administration, who, following very detailed
reports from the Muravera police, adjudged that the area posed
no threat to public order, since Castiadas was so cut off.
Thus, the biggest farming penal colony in Italy was born and
with it, the town of Castiadas came back to life, after 350 years
of isolation, abandonment, plague and malaria.
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