page_title: Iglesias, Sardinia
section_title: Castle of Salvaterra
hierarchical_section_title: Iglesias, Sardinia / Attractions / Castle of Salvaterra
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of "Nostra Signora di Valverde" - Iglesias , Sardinia-Italy
context_page_description: Iglesias is a comune and city in the province of South Sardinia in Italy. It was co-capital of the province of Carbonia-Iglesias with Carbonia, and the province's second-largest community.
  Under Spanish control Iglesias was one of the most important royal cities on Sardinia, and it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iglesias. At an elevation of 190 metres in the hills of southwestern Sardinia, it was the centre of a mining district from which lead, zinc, and silver were extracted. Iglesias was also a centre for the distillation of sulfuric acid.
context_section_description: The Castle of Salvaterra was probably built as part of urbanization after 1258 under Ugolino della Gheradesca. It was designed as a bulwark from which to survey the town and its surroundings as far as the silver mines.
  In 1297 Sardinia and Corsica were made subject to the Crown of Aragon by Pope Boniface VIII, but were not taken possession until 1324. The castle of San Guantino changed its name to Salvaterra and its status; a 1325 stone slab calls it castris regalis, a royal castle.
  The square castle's northern and eastern sides, built in courses of stone alternating with brick, seem to adhere to the original medieval plan and confer solidity. It had a chapel dedicated first to San Guantino and later to Eulalia of Barcelona. The castle well has been rebuilt in its internal courtyard.
caption: Church of Santa Maria di Valverde
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