Visit: Museo dell'Intreccio Mediterraneo, Castelsardo, Province of Sassari, Sardinia

You will visit the museum of Mediterranean Weaving and the Genoa origins of the town of Castelsardo, which also gives a panoramic view from the fortess.
Along the streets of the town one can still come across basketmakers who are both historical and modern figures, sitting in front of their houses weaving with dwarf palm, marine hay or raffia, almost as if they need to communicate this tradition to tourists as well as to their own fellow citizens, Their artifacts, on display for the tourists and passersby, recall the techniques, forms and decorations of the ancient basketworking tradition of Castelsardo but also reflect the personal tastes and innovative talent of the contemporary local craftsmen.
In Sardinia, the varying distribution of the weft fiber on the warp determines the distinction between two different compositional techniques: coiling and twining. To these we can add the techniques used for roofing and mats; for sacred occasions or ceremonies, like the Easter palms; for the caning of the typical Sardinian kitchen chairs; for articles used in daily work activities depending on the type of work involved; fishing creels or breadbaskets.
The history of Castelsardo originates under the medieval name of Castelgenovese, the fortress belonging to the Ligurian family, the Doria. Its story is linked to a myth belied by historical fact: its founding, for centuries dated at 1102, because of an erroneous interpretation of medieval data by the historian and humanist Giovanni Francesco Fara from Sassari (1543-1591). The exact year is difficult to establish because a foundation charter of the fortress does not exist, it was first mentioned in 1272 in a letter sent by Carlo D’Angi□, King of Sicily to the municipality of Genoa asking that justice be rendered to Guglielmo di Saint-Gilles, a citizen of Palermo, who had been imprisoned in the fortress.