Cathedral of St. Nicholas

In the very center of Sassari's old town there is the majestic Cathedral of St. Nicholas, which was built in the 1200s in the Pisan Romanesque style on the remains of an ancient early Christian church: these can still be seen under the apse. It has since incorporated various styles, Catalan Gothic in the interior and the facade entirely in Baroque style. This one in particular is striking for its wealth of decoration, including statues of some early Christian martyrs and in the upper part that of St. Nicholas of Bari, who is the patron saint of Sassari.

The writer Elio Vittorini commented on the exaggerated amount of detail in the facade saying “yet one would not want to take anything away from it”. In addition, the wealth of art artifacts inside led to the opening of the diocesan museum, which can be visited from May to September.