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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Alghero
Alghero
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula.
Alghero is a town of about 35,000 inhabitants down from 54,300 inhabitants since early 20th century in Italy. It is located in the province of Sassari in north-western Sardinia. Catalan spoken by minority of the people was replaced as the official language by Spanish in the seventeenth century and eventually by Italian. The most recent linguistic research conducted showed that 22.4 percent of the population speaks Algherese Catalan as a first language and around 90 percent have some understanding of the language.
Alghero was founded around 1102 by the Genoese Doria family, as an equipped port. The Doria ruled it for centuries, apart a brief period under the Pisano family. In 1353 it was captured by the Aragonese, and could later grow thanks to the arrival of Aragonese and Catalan colonists and then developed economically.
In 1720 Alghero and Sardinia were handed over to Piedmont. Around 1750 a broad channel was excavated to develop the defensive stand of the peninsula. In 1821 famine led to a revolt of the population, which was bloodily suppressed. At the end of the same century this city was de-militarized and, during the Fascist era, part of the surrounding marshes was reclaimed and the suburbs of Fertilia and S.M. La Palma were founded, although the presence of malaria in the countryside could be overcome only in the 1950s. During World War II in the year 1943 Alghero was bombed, its historical center suffering heavy damage.
A city known for its historic myths and traditions, scenic beauty, cooperative people and luxurious hotels and cottages, Alghero is one of the favorite holiday destinations for most of the vacation lovers.
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