Sassari’s largest piazza is one of Sardinia’s most impressive public spaces. Covering about a hectare, it is surrounded by imposing 19th-century buildings, including the neoclassical Palazzo della Provincia, seat of the provincial government and, opposite, the neo-Gothic Palazzo Giordano, now home to the Banca Intesa SanPaolo. Presiding over everything is a statue of King Vittorio Emanuele II.
The statue was unveiled in 1899 to much pomp and costumed celebration, in anticipation of the grand event that would become the city’s main festival, the Cavalcata Sarda. The piazza also marks the starting point for Sassari’s other big jamboree, I Candelieri.