Quartu Sant'Elena
| Quartu Sant'Elena | |||
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| — Comune — | |||
| Comune di Quartu Sant'Elena | |||
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 Quartu Sant'Elena
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| Coordinates: 39°14′N 09°11′E / 39.233°N 9.183°E | |||
| Country | Italy | ||
| Region | Sardinia | ||
| Province | Cagliari (CA) | ||
| Frazioni | Flumini di Quartu | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Mauro Contini | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 96.28 km2 (37.2 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 6 m (20 ft) | ||
| Population (30 April 2009) | |||
| • Total | 71,165 | ||
| • Density | 739.1/km2 (1,914.4/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym | Quartesi | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 09045, 09046 | ||
| Dialing code | 070 | ||
| Patron saint | St. Helena | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
Quartu Sant'Elena (Sardinian: Cuartu Santa Alèni) is a city and comune in the Province of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It is the third biggest city of Sardinia with a population of c. 71,000 as of 2008.
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[edit] History
The city's name comes from its distance to Cagliari (Quartum miles, Latin for “four miles”), and from the passage there of St. Helena, mother of emperor Constantine.
The first traces of human presence in Quartu are from the Phoenician period, as attested by findingsin Cepola, Geremeas, Is Mortorius and Separassiu localities. Roman findings were found near Sant’Andrea villa, a graveyard at S. Martino and a few tombs at Simbirizzi.
In the 4th century AD Sardinia was divided into four Giudicati: Quartu, which included fourteen villas, belonged to the Giudicato of Cagliari. In 1066 Quartu was given to Cagliari’s archbishop and then went back to Judge Torgotorio II of Cagliari. During the Aragonese rule, Quartu suffered for famines, plague, malaria and continuous raids from Saracen pirates, following the general path of decay of the whole Sardinia.
In 1793 the soldiers of a French fleet landed on the coast of Quartu, with the intention of conquering the whole island; the people of the city, led by Antonio Pisanu, assailed the French and repelled them after a bloody battle.
Feudalism ended in 1836 under the baron Pes di Villamarina. In 1956 Quartu Sant’Elena was upgraded to the status of “city” by the President of Republic Giovanni Gronchi.
[edit] Main sights
From an artistic point of view, there are five interesting churches situated in the city. The most important are the churches of Sant'Elena Imperatrice (dating before 1589, but now in Neo-Classic lines and recently proclaimed "Basilica"), Santa Maria Cepola (before 1089) and Sant'Agata. There is also Sa dom’e farra (house museum). It is a large peasant house of the 17th century, where you can see various rooms, objects and tools used by the peasant society.
There are numerous nuraghi in the neighbourhood.
[edit] Geography
Quartu has a long, shallow coastline. It also looks onto the pond of Molentargius, where flamingos and Sultan roosters nest.
[edit] Economy
The economy is based on the tertiary industry. Quartu also produces excellent wines, bread and cakes. Although the city is not extremely big, there are many shopping opportunities: Carrefour, E. Leclerc-Conad, Iper Pan.
[edit] Festivities
The most important religious festivity is dedicated to Saint Elena and is celebrated on the 14th September.
