Piazza Sella, with its benches and huge flowerbeds surrounding centuries-old trees, plays a central role both socially as a meeting point and for the traffic in Cagliari. The first urban development of the square extended from 1841 to 1885, with progressive enlargements between 1909 and 1914 that defined its square plan.
In the center of the square stands the monument to Quintino Sella, one of the most well-known symbols of the city. In 1871, the Municipality of Iglesias conferred honorary citizenship on Quintino Sella. After his death, a promotional committee for a commemorative monument was set up in the city. The monument, a work by the sculptor Giuseppe Sartorio, was erected on June 7, 1885, and moved around 1909 to the center of the square.
Next to Piazza Sella, Piazza Oberdan houses one of the most beautiful War Memorials in Sardinia, a work by the illustrious Sardinian sculptor of the time, Francesco Ciusa. The work was commissioned by a local committee and inaugurated in 1929.
The monument is dedicated to war, not as a glorious enterprise, but as a sacrifice. This interpretation of the artist was not accepted by the committee, who imposed on him to modify the work by adding a “winged Victory”. Ciusa did not approve of this decision and, after making the modification, morally refused to claim authorship of the work.
