Sardinia. Alghero, the seaside city of the Red Coral Riviera

Alghero is certainly one of the most important cities in Sardinia. It is one of the gateways to the island given the proximity of the airport near Fertilia.

Alghero is also considered the capital of the Coral Riviera as its sea contains large quantities of precious, high-quality red coral. Precisely this raw material caught by underwater coral fishermen centuries ago gave rise to a flourishing processing and sales activity which gave a great economic boost to the area.

But tourism is certainly the driving sector given its great vocation for hospitality, just think that in 2012, the city of Alghero was in 10th place among Italian cities in terms of the number of foreign tourists who visited it.

What to visit in Alghero?

Among the religious architecture in the historic center, we find important churches:

Cathedral of Santa Maria, 16th century;
church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 17th century;
church of Santa Barbara, 16th century: the oldest church in the city, which became an Orthodox parish;
church of San Francesco with its cloister, 14th century;
church of San Michele and polychrome majolica dome, 16th century;
former church of Our Lady of the Rosary, now home to a museum;
church of Our Lady of Mercy;
former church of Sant’Antonio Abate, which has become a private home;
church of Sant’Anna intra mœnia (Sant’Ana de dins in Alghero dialect), which cannot be visited.

In the countryside, however:

sanctuary of Our Lady of Valverde (Nostra Segnora de Baluvirde in Sardinian, Nostra Senyora de Vallverd in Alghero) from the 17th century, about 7 km from the center and a destination for pilgrimages,
the old church of Sant’Agostino (14th century),
the church of Sant’Anna (Sant’Ana de fores in Algherese) dating back to the 15th century. The new church of Sant’Agostino (16th century).

Among the civil architecture, there are numerous historic buildings: