Deep-dive

Identity: the Candelieri, the Gremi and the Cavalcata Sarda

The Descent of the Candelieri on 14 August fulfils a vow to Our Lady of the Assumption for the end of plague epidemics, as the thirteen Gremi, the old guilds, carry wooden obelisks on their shoulders; it has been UNESCO-listed since 2013. The May Cavalcata Sarda gathers costumed participants from all over the island. The city's medieval name is Thatari.

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The Candelieri

The Descent of the Candelieri — in Sassarese «Faradda di li Candareri» — takes place every 14 August and fulfils the solemn vow made to Our Lady of the Assumption for deliverance from plague epidemics, in particular that of 1652. The candelieri are wooden obelisks carried on the shoulders of the Gremi, the old guilds of arts and crafts: thirteen take part today. Since 2013 the festival has been part, with those of Nola, Palmi and Viterbo, of the «celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures» on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list.

The Cavalcata Sarda

The Cavalcata Sarda is held mainly on the penultimate Sunday of May, within a programme lasting about a month. Its modern form dates from 1899, when it was organised for the inauguration of the monument to Victor Emmanuel II in piazza d'Italia, but it has a precedent in a cavalcade of 1711 in honour of Charles III. On Sunday morning more than two thousand participants in traditional dress from towns all over Sardinia parade through the centre, followed by more than three hundred riders; in the early afternoon, at the Pinna racecourse, the «pariglie» perform acrobatics on galloping horses.

Thatari

The name of the Rete Thamus, the municipal network of cultural sites, combines the city's medieval name, Thatari, with the idea of a museum circuit. Sassari is Sardinia's second city by population and the historic and monumental capital of the north of the island.

Population

City figurePeriod: Jan 1, 2025Validsample unknown

Source: ISTAT – Popolazione residente: bilancio demografico (dataflow 22_315, DCIS_POPORESBIL1)

120,510people

Foreign residents, share of population

City figurePeriod: Jan 1, 2025Estimatesample unknown

Source: ISTAT – Stranieri residenti al 1° gennaio (dataflow 29_7, DCIS_POPSTRRES1)

4.4 %