Alghero is a coastal town of north-western Sardinia. Part of its population descends from Catalan conquerors from the end of the Middle Ages, when Sardinia was seized from Pisa and became part of the Crown of Aragon. The Catalan language is co-official with Italian, which is a unique situation in Italy. It is known as the Alguerès dialect. Alghero is sometimes known as ‘Little Barcelona’ or ‘Barceloneta’.
The name Alghero comes from Aleguerium, which is a mediaeval Latin word meaning "stagnation of algae", as the currents deposit seaweed along the coast.
The Phoenicians arrived here in the 8th century BC and traded with the native Nuraghe population, probably including silver mining and metalwork. Together they traded with the Etruscans on the Italian mainland. Alghero was occupied by the Carthaginians and then the Romans.
Alghero was strategically located on the Mediterranean ‘Route of the Islands’. Barbary pirates (Muslims or ‘Moors’ from the north African coast) often operated in the area, and the Genoese maritime power fortified the town early in the 12th century. The town was controlled by either the Genoese or the Pisans, until it was conquered – with Venetian assistance - by the Crown of Aragon in 1325. Catalan settlers gradually colonised the island, and many of the native population were sent back to Mallorca and the Iberian Peninsula as slaves; an early example of ethnic cleansing.
The island became part of the Spanish Hapsburg empire, until the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. As part of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1714, Sardinia was ceded to the Holy Roman Emperor (Charles VI, head of the Austrian branch of the Hapsburgs.)
In 1720, the Austrians handed over to the House of Savoy, who already ruled Sicily. Under the Savoy dynasty, Sardinia became the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the dynasty started the long process leading the eventual unification of Italy.
