The Municipal Historical Archive is located on Via delle Carceri in the former district jail, built in 1794 and now a place of study.
Inside it is kept the oldest existing document concerning the city: the “Breve di Villa di Chiesa”.
This is the statute of Villa di Chiesa, the ancient name of the city of Iglesias. It was elaborated at the time when Iglesias was under the dominion of the Pisana family of Donoratico, dedicated to the exploitation of the Sulcis mines.
The Breve was ratified in 1327 by Alfonso d’Aragona after the conquest of the city.
The Breve contains regulations that govern the entire life of the Iglesian community, from urban planning regulations to rules on the proper conduct of markets and goods sold there, from the regulation of social life to the provision of penalties to be imposed on those who committed different crimes.
