From Castello to Bonaria: Cagliari has its ghosts, too.

The afterlife has always fascinated humanity. The mystery surrounding death and what comes after, or "the afterlife," is something humanity has always grappled with. While scientific evidence hasn't proven anything resembling earthly life after death, we are often subconsciously driven to formulate explanations and theories about the unknown. For those who aren't satisfied with religion, the lack of scientific proof has been filled over the centuries by narratives, legends, and tales about life after death.

Since ancient times, we've been drawn to these tales. The "scary stories" once told around the fire at night often have common roots. Ghosts, spectres, and souls are immersed in everyday, recognizable contexts, making the events more believable. Even more curious is that, in addition to their shared roots, these stories often resemble each other, even though they're set in different regions. A prime example is that of the souls who seem to find no peace and wander eternally, as if needing to conclude something left unfinished during their lives. Cagliari, too, has its ghosts. And, needless to say, we find dozens of them in the Monumental Cemetery of Bonaria, where you can find girls strolling along the avenues and children whispering to passersby. Here too, the common denominator is that of young lives cut short too soon.

In the old Castello neighborhood, there were rumors of the apparition of a child dressed in white robes (it's no coincidence that white is the color of innocence and candor), of the voices of those buried on Via del Fossario, and of nuns wandering in search of peace after perishing in the collapse of the Convent of Santa Caterina in the mid-eighteenth century. In the San Benedetto neighborhood, in a residence between Via Puccini and Via Rossini, the legend of ghosts wandering in search of revenge after a brutal murder lingered for years. After the home's demolition, the same story, with some changes, was then told for another building located a short distance away. Evidently, even ghosts are forced to move.