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| The Sardinian town Alghero means "full of seaweed" |
This
morning we arrived in Alghero, a port town in northwestern Sardinia. But
because the port isn’t deep enough for the cruise ship, we had to take a
tender, or a small shuttle boat to get to the town, which took about 15 minutes.
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| The clear blue waters are amazing, our ship in the distance |
I
love how the town’s name means “full of algae”, and its history dates back in
the 8th century when it was established by the Phoencians, who set
up a post here to trade with the Etruscans on the Italian mainland.
In
1102, Alghero developed into a fortified town by the Genoese Doria family who
ruled the town for centuries, but, in 1354, Peter IV of Aragon took over the
town and populated the port with Catalans, expelling Sardinians and Ligurians.
Alghero was under Catalan-Aragonian rule and the Spanish Hapsburgs for four
centuries.
By
the early 16th century, Alghero was received papal recognition, and
in 1720 the town was acquired by the Piedmont-based House of Savoy.
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| The ramparts right by the water to fortify the town |
During
World War II Alghero was bombed and many parts of the town were destroyed.
Today
it’s a quaint place with narrow streets and leftover Catalan architecture. We
first took a small tour bus that was actually like a children’s train ride
through parts of the town.
Afterwards
we retraced some of the areas that the train went through to have a closer
look. Many of the shops sell red coral made into jewellery, some costing 10
euros up to over 100 euros. It was hard to tell the difference in terms of
quality.
We
were most impressed with the clear blue water that you could still see far into
the distance, which is why this place is famous for its lobster and sea urchin!
Sadly we didn’t get to try any…
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| The Senyera flag represents Aragon |
Nevertheless
it’s a very walkable town, and with the sunshine and blue skies at 25 degrees
Celsius, makes for a nice visit!
