Alghero is among the better-known destinations in Sardinia, a walled town with strong Catalan heritage. Here is the first view of it from the northbound coastal approach.
Somewhat curiously, it failed to blow us away. I suspect mostly it was due to the expectation that a larger town needs to have a larger set of “killer” features in order to be judged impressive at this stage in our travels. (In contrast to a smaller town or village that simply needs to be pretty.)
Alghero’s main defining feature is its waterfront along the town walls, with splashes of color, occasional signs of neglect, and defensive towers.
You can also see an example or two of ancient weaponry on display.
A few major churches are other points of interest. The tower of the Cattedrale dell’ Immacolata Concezione is the dominating feature of the majority of Alghero’s perspectives.
…and the tiled dome of San Michele Arcangelo is the loveliest.
As everywhere in the Western world, the churches’ interiors are full of impressive decorative and votive details. Here are a few examples.
This nativity scene found at the monastic complex of San Francesco curiously features a nuraghe on the left. We will discuss the Bronze Age Nuragic civilization in a future installment, but it did not exist beyond Sardinia, surely not in Bethlehem.
Beyond the waterfront and the churches, Alghero’s historic center is pleasant enough but hardly more than that.
Alghero has historically been the center of the red coral jewelry industry, and one of the more unique attractions found in town is the Museo del Corallo, whose collection of whimsical creations is well worth a half-hour visit.
I am going to hold that remote perspectives of Alghero make up for the paucity of exceptional perspectives when in town, so here are a couple of additional different focal-length shots from that same coastal viewpoint.
