Alghero

Alghero is a town of about 44,000 inhabitants in Italy. It lies in the province of Sassari in northwestern Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea.
The area of today’s Alghero has been settled since pre-historic times. The so-called Ozieri culture was present here in the 4th millennium BCE while the Nuraghe civilization was present in the area around 1500 BCE, as traces of Phoenician buildings have been found not far from the city.
Due to its strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea, Alghero was built around a fortified port, founded around 1102 by the Genoese Doria family. In 1372, following several revolts, the indigenous population was expelled, and Alghero could later grow thanks to the arrival of Catalan colonists. In the early 16th century Alghero received the status of King’s City (ciutat de l’Alguer) and developed economically.
The Catalano-Aragonese were followed by the Spanish Habsburgs, whose dominion, ending in 1702, brought some stylish elegance to the city. In 1720 Alghero and Sardinia were handed over to the Piedmont based House of Savoy. Around 1750 a wide channel was excavated to improve the defensive position of the peninsula. During World War II (1943) Alghero was bombed, and its historical centre suffered heavy damage.
Italian is the official language spoken in Alghero. A small proportion of people in Alghero speak a Catalan dialect, introduced when Catalan invaders repopulated the town after capturing the city from the Genoese in 1353 and subsequently expelling the indigenous population. Catalan was replaced as the official language by Spanish in the 17th century, then by Italian.