The Bastione di Saint Remy is the grand staircase, arcade and terrace that climbs from Piazza Costituzione to the Castello district of Cagliari. It looks like a fortress, but it was built between 1896 and 1902 as a civic promenade on top of two 16th-century Spanish bastions. From the Terrazza Umberto I at the top you look over the rooftops, the port and the Gulf of Cagliari.
The Bastione di Saint Remy at a glance
- Where: Piazza Costituzione, where the Castello hill meets the lower districts of Marina and Villanova.
- Built: 1896–1902, on the levelled remains of the Sperone and Zecca (Mint) bastions from the second half of the 16th century.
- By: the municipal engineers Giuseppe Costa and Fulgenzio Setti, developing an idea put forward by the architect Gaetano Cima in the mid-19th century.
- What it is today: a public staircase and viewing terrace, with the covered promenade below used for exhibitions and events.
- Time needed: 20–30 minutes, longer if you stay for the sunset.
From Spanish bastions to a city balcony
The Castello hill was a walled town for centuries. The Pisans fortified it in the 13th century, and under Spanish rule, in the second half of the 16th century, new bastions were added, among them the Sperone and the Zecca. By the 19th century those walls cut the old upper town off from the districts growing below. Gaetano Cima suggested linking the two levels in the mid-1800s, and at the end of the century the city's engineers levelled and reused the old bastions to create a classical-style staircase, a covered promenade and a terrace. The name honours the Baron of Saint Remy, the first Piedmontese viceroy of Sardinia after the island passed to the House of Savoy in 1720.
The covered promenade was first used as a banquet hall, then as an infirmary in wartime and later as a shelter for people who had lost their homes. Bombing during the Second World War badly damaged the staircase and the triumphal arch; both were rebuilt to the original design from 1946. After the war the covered promenade hosted the first Sardinian International Fair, and it has been an exhibition space ever since.
What to look for
- The main staircase: several ramps climb from Piazza Costituzione and meet at a landing halfway up, where the entrance to the covered promenade opens.
- The triumphal arch: a second staircase with two curving ramps passes under a large arch on its way to the top terrace.
- The columns: white and yellow limestone with Corinthian capitals, part of the classical look the engineers chose to dress up the old walls.
- The Passeggiata Coperta: the long, bright halls behind the arches facing Viale Regina Elena.
- The Terrazza Umberto I: the open terrace on top, with views over Marina and Villanova, the harbour, the gulf and the hills beyond.
- The ramps to Santa Caterina: two more ramps lead from the terrace towards the neighbouring Bastione di Santa Caterina.
Tips for your visit
- Come in the late afternoon or at sunset, when the limestone turns golden and the terrace fills with people.
- The stairs are long and steep. The terrace can also be reached by a public lift from the Giardino Sotto le Mura, but check it is running.
- Repair works on the terrace and stairs have come and gone in recent years, so a section may be fenced off when you visit.
- Combine it with a walk through the Castello district: from the terrace it is a short climb to the cathedral and the medieval towers.
Nearby
- Cagliari Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria): the cathedral on Piazza Palazzo in Castello, founded in the Pisan period, a few minutes uphill.
- Torre dell'Elefante: the white limestone Pisan tower of 1307, named after the small marble elephant on a ledge of its outer wall.
- Bastione di Santa Croce: a quieter terrace on the western side of Castello, the place to watch the sun set over the lagoon.
- Via Garibaldi and Villanova: the shopping street and the low, colourful houses of the old district just east of the piazza.
See Cagliari with World City Trail
Our Cagliari scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 3 hours, with about 45 minutes of walking. The Bastione di Saint Remy is one of the stops, and so is Cagliari Cathedral.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Cagliari.
Play the Cagliari scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Cagliari →
Play the outdoor escape game in Cagliari →
Facts checked in October 2026.