Alghero | things to see | walking tour | nature | history | sleeping | eating | how to get there
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The area of Alghero has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The necropolis of Anghelo Ruju, which is over 5,000 years old, the nuragic village of Palmavera (1500-1000 BC), and traces of ancient Roman remains bear witness to a continuous human presence in this area.

According to historians, Alghero was founded in the first half of the XI century, when the Dorias, a powerful family from Genoa, fortified a fishing village, turning it into an important fortress. The Dorias built the fortress, because of Alghero's strategic position in the centre of the Western Mediterranean.

The name of Alghero comes from the large quantity of sea weed ("alghe" in Italian ) deposited on the shore by the sea. Alghero was originally called "Aleguerium", from which the name Alghero derives.

Alghero was controlled by the Genoese until 1353.

In 1354, Alghero was conquered by the Catalans and Aragonese, after the Genoese lost the naval battle of Porto Conte.

The first thing the Catalan Government did was expel the Sardinian and Genoese population from the city, and found a Catalan colony in Alghero. 

Alghero was a Spanish city for approx. 4 centuries, playing, during that period, a strategic role. In 1501 Alghero was declared one of the "Fedelissime" (trusted cities) and in 1541, the king of Spain, Carlo V, visited the city.

During the last war, the town was bombed and some buildings in the old town were destroyed.

photo: P. Rinaldi