Villanova: the ancient rural village

Villanova is the neighborhood of Cagliari's expansion into the countryside. Unexpected vegetable gardens and typical low houses are still preserved in the urban fabric of this area. Enclosed by walls it was an elegant promenade of a peasant and rural bourgeoisie. "Biddanoa" in Sardinian, as the name implies, means new town, so it is the youngest of Cagliari's historic districts, It most likely originated between 1263 and 1288, from the scattered settlements related to the cultivation of fields at the foot of the eastern side of the Castle. It is also likely that, like Stampace, it was fortified after 1292 in the same manner.

The wall around the neighborhood was interrupted by three gateways:

Porta Villanova or dei Calderai, located at the beginning of Via Sulis s'Arrughixedda" Romero gate at the current Romero portico Porta delle Capanne or Cavagna , located at the intersection of Via S.Giovanni and Via S.Giacomo at the small church of S.Cesello and was the access to the plain of La Vega and the road leading to S'avanzada and the tower of San Pancrazio.