Today Sa die de sa sardigna, the holiday of all the Sardinian people. The 28 April 1794in fact, the Sardinian vespers riot which forced the viceroy Balbiano and his officials to flee from Cagliari Savoy, after the failure to accept the political requests of the then Kingdom of Sardinia. Here it is in the 1993 the Regional Council established the Sardinian People's Day.
Sa Die de sa Sardigna, the discontent of a people towards the Piedmontese
In the last decades of the 700th century, in Sardinia under the Savoy administration, a movement of rebellion, also in analogy with the revolutions of France and various parts of Europe. On the one hand the Piedmontese, who treated the islanders with contempt; on the other side the Sardinians, who saw themselves being violated those ancient privileges granted to them by the kings of Aragon.
Sa Die de sa Sardinia, when the French tried to land on the island
In 1793, a French fleet attempted to take over Sardinia, trying to land at Cagliari and La Maddalena. The resistance of the Sardinian people was, however, strenuous, thus foiling the transalpine plan. Thus it was the opportunity for revenge against the Savoy Crown, to which the Sardinians basically asked greater autonomy in defense and respect for the decisions of the local ruling class: the reservation for Sardinians in public offices, a Council of State in Cagliari and the establishment in Turin of a Ministry for Sardinian affairs. The Savoys denied every request.
The outbreak of the Sardinian revolution
Following the arrest of the Cagliaritan lawyers Vincenzo Cabras ed Efisio Pintor, on 28 April 1794, known as Sa Die de sa Sardigna, the city bourgeoisie gave life to the revolution of the people. All the officials and the viceroy were forcibly embarked and driven from the island. The revolt, the first in all of Europe on the French model, later spread from Cagliari to northern Sardinia and the rural hinterland.
A three-year period of revolution, before the Savoy return
For Sardinia it was a revolutionary three-year period. The Alternos Giovanni Maria Angioy, high magistrate of the Kingdom of Sardinia, led the anti-feudal uprisings for another two years, before returning to Savoy jurisdiction.
Sa Die de Sa Sardigna today
Since 1993, upon institution of the Regional Council, Sa Die de Sa Sardigna still finds its celebration among the Sardinian people today, with the memory of symbolic dates and places. Among these, the Palabanda gate, in Cagliari, which pays homage to the martyrs who in 1812, in the locality of the same name, tried to keep the fires of rebellion lit, even after the restoration.
