Sassari 341
Prior to the discovery of the structures and the material evidence, and based
on the topographical reading of the historic center, various scholars placed the
earliest urban nucleus in this area; Gian Filippo Orlandi,19 for example, wrong-
ly believed that there was a Roman or Byzantine presence and consequently
explained it in relation to the decline of Turris; while Principe identified it as
one of the three nuclei, possibly ancient Roman vici, unified to become the city
through synoecism, including an elongated area to the east of Corso Vittorio
Emanuele street and another to the south, around the castle.20 More recently,
Marco Cadinu21 identified the earliest nucleus of Sassari around the circular
formation with a central commercial street-piazza onto which opened a
19 Gian Filippo Orlandi, Thathari pietra su pietra (Sassari, 1985).
20 Ilario Principe, Sassari, Alghero, Castelsardo, Porto Torres (Rome, 1983).
21 See infra Marco Cadinu infra and also Marco Cadinu, Urbanistica medievale in Sardegna
(Rome, 2001).
Figure 13.2 Location of Roman finds in Sassari’s historical center. 1. Largo Monache
Cappuccine, 2. Piazza Tola, 3. Piazza Duomo, 4. Largo Seminario, 5. via Cagliari.
With kind permission of the Archaeological Superintendence
of Sardinia, Italian Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism.