318 Martorelli
the previous century, following the works of Pietro Martini18 and of Giuseppe
Manno.19
In 1845 Cosimo Manca, friar of the church of Saint Rosalia in Cagliari, sold
to Pietro Martini a document on parchment of uncertain provenance, which
he gave to the University Library of Cagliari, of which he was president. Over a
period of more than ten years, other parchments, palimpsests, and papers cast
light on one of the darkest periods of Sardinia. The Carte di Arborea were stud-
ied by the most famous philologists of the nineteenth century,20 who created
a querelle between supporters and opponents. Della Marmora, Pietro Martini,21
and Giovanni Spano were also among the supporters in Sardinia.22 The lat-
ter, in the Bullettino Archeologico Sardo, a journal created in 1855, published
his studies about the island and Cagliari using a scientific methodology in his
analysis of monuments and objects.23
In 1861, when the kingdom of Italy was created, Cagliari underwent radical
urban changes that created the opportunity for further archaeological investi-
gations and provided precious information on the old town.
The medieval walls of the sea quarter were demolished in order to facili-
tate passage among the districts, according to a new urban planning applied in
the most important European cities (Paris, Rome, Vienna), that aimed to open
large boulevards.24 The cemeteries also changed: the edict of Saint-Cloud
obliged the inhabitants to use burial areas far from the town and prohibited
graves inside the urban churches, with the exception of particular cases. So
in 1828 a new cemetery was carved out of the Bonaria hill. During the excava-
tion remains of an important ancient cemetery used from the Punic until the
Late Roman period were found: in particular early Christian rooms painted
with biblical scenes.25 The political center of the town, located in the Castello
18 Pietro Martini, Storia ecclesiastica di Sardegna, I–III (Cagliari, 1839–1841).
19 Giuseppe Manno, Storia della Chiesa di Sardegna, I (Torino, 1825).
20 Le carte d’Arborea: falsi e falsari nella Sardegna del XIX secolo. Atti del Convegno di Studi
Le carte d’Arborea (Oristano, 22–23 marzo 1996), ed. Luciano Marrocu (Cagliari, 1997).
21 Pietro Martini, Pergamene, codici e fogli cartacei di Arborea (Cagliari 1863–1865); repub-
lished with introductory notes by Alberto Boscolo (Sala Bolognese, 1986).
22 Giovanni Spano, Guida della città e dintorni di Cagliari (Cagliari, 1861).
23 Giovanni Spano, “Nome, sito e perimetro dell’antica città di Cagliari,” Bullettino
Archeologico Sardo II (1856), pp. 48–54, 87–93; Spano, Guida della città e dintorni di
Cagliari.
24 Giovanni Spano commenting Della Marmora, Itinerario dell’isola di Sardegna, I, pp. 22–25.
25 Filippo Vivanet, “Catacombe cristiane riconosciute nella collina di Buonaria, presso
l’attuale cimitero,” Notizie degli Scavi di Antichita (1892), pp. 183–189; Giovanni Pinza,