Diapositiva 1

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Sights of my city
Porto Torres
a cura della 3A del Liceo Scientifico Europa
Unita
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• - Porto Torres districts
• History of Porto Torres
• Porto Torres Monuments
• Beaches of Porto Torres
• Traditions and Festivals
• The Economy
• The Port
• Shopping in Porto Torres
• Public places in Porto Torres

Contents
credits
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PORTO TORRES DISTRICTS
According to census returns, in 1861 in Porto
Torres lived 2025 people, especially fishermen
and farmers. Now the population has grown thanks
to the building of petrochemical factories that
attracted a lot of people from the rest of
Italy, too. In 2001, 21.064 people lived in
Porto Torres. Originally Porto Torres was only
made of two districts the historic centre
(called in 1900 Rione Dei pescatori
fisheremens district) and San Gavino. Later,
many more districs were bornBorgona, Monte
Angellu, Andreolu, Balai, Saltu di Lena, Viale
delle Vigne, Villaggio Verde, Villaggio
Satellite, Oleandro, Serra li Pozzi, C/1, 167, Li
Pidriazzi and Li Lioni.
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The Historic Centre Its position is north-east
on the harbour. It borders Marinella, Balai,
Borgona and San Gavino. In this district we can
find the Roman Thermal Baths, the Roman Bridge,
the Antiquarium Museum, the Medieval Aragonese
Tower, the church of the Consolata and the
railway station. The historic center spreads
around Corso Vittorio Emanuele. This street is
the commercial centre of the town, where there
are modern shops and public services, such as
hotels, restaurants, cafés, a chemist,
super-markets, banks, the Town Hall and the
Police Headquarters. In this district there are
some old buildings, but also modern, too.
San Gavino It is situated in the south-west
facing the harbour, on a hill. It borders Monte
Angellu, Saltu di Lena and Andreolu. The centre
of this quarter is St. Gavinos Church, where the
bones of the three martyrs Proto, Gavino and
Gianuario are kept and where the first nucleus of
Porto Torres population was born. People living
in this district are called Bainzini (from the
name of the Saint in Sardinian Bainzu). In this
area there is also the oldest school in town, a
primary school called De Amicis. In this zone
houses are low, and there is a very large green
park, that is named after the district.
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Oleandro It is situated in a green area with
large oleander boulevards (thus the name). It is
a residential quarter where there are tall
buildings, over five floors high with a
backyard. There are small shops and a small
football field, too.
Monte Angellu It is in the south-west of Porto
Torres. It borders the railway station, the
valley of the river Rio Mannu, San Gavino and
Andreolu. Most of the buildings are modern and
low. There are no public services nor green zones
but there is a primary and a junior high school.
Initially this quarter was a big garbage dump.
Rione delle Vigne The name means Vineyards.
Its main street, Viale delle Vigne, is bordered
by Borgona, Balai and Villaggio Verde. Here there
are some shops, a nursery school, a secondary
school, some banks and a post office. There are
tall apartment buildings and some detached houses.
Andreolu It is in the south of town. It borders
Monte Angellu, Saltu di Lena and Oleandro. Here
you can find many detached houses and small
apartment buildings. There are no public services
nor parks but, only small shops.
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Saltu di Lena It is in the south between Via
Sassari and Viale delle Vigne and it spreads up
to the Carabinieri (Police forces) Headquarters.
There are tall buildings with over three floors.
There are no green areas, but there are small
markets, cafés and greengrocers. In this district
we can find a junior high school (Brunelleschi)
and our school a Liceo for the sciences.
Borgona It is in the east side. It borders via
Ettore Sacchi, Balai and the graveyard. The
oldest zone of this district is near the port.
There are narrow streets and small houses. There
are a lot of shops, markets, butchers shops,
cafés and penny arcades. There are also the two
professional secondary schools Istituto Nautico
and IPSIA, and an important primary school which
bears the name of the distrct.
Balai It is along the sea coast on a promontory
up east. It is situated between the sea, a
pine-wood and the port. Here there is also the
city graveyard, a little church dedicated to the
three martyrs and a green park called Chico
Mendez. There are no public services either
except for an infant school. The houses are
mostly all terraced.
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Villaggio Satellite It is a very young quarter.
It is composed of council houses where the people
who lived near San Gavino quarter (the old
historic centre) have moved. There are parks and
gardens, a pharmacy, supermarkets, shops and a
primary school. This quarter offers also some
sports grounds.
Serra Li Pozzi It rises on a hill between
Villaggio Satellite and the pine-woods. The name
means enclosure of wells. There is a hotel and
little shops. There are no public services but
there are a lot of detached houses.
167 zone and C/1 zone These are very new
quarters. C/1 borders Viale delle Vigne and Balai
, while 167 zone borders Balai and Villaggio
Verde. In both quarters there are only houses.
Most are detached and terraced houses.
Villaggio Verde It lies towards the east of the
harbour. It borders Balai, Villaggio Satellite,
Viale delle Vigne and the 167 zone. The blocks
are built around small squares without playing
grounds. There are no public services in
Villaggio Verde. This quarter is called Green
Village because most of the buildings are green.
Li Lioni and Li Pidriazzi These are two suburban
zones. Here you can find only country houses.
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HISTORY OF PORTO TORRES
Acient History
The Phoenicians, brave sailors and traders, made
their first settlements around the 9th century
B.C. in Turris Libyssonis (Porto Torres) . Then
came the Cartheginians, around the 6th century
B.C., then the Greeks and finally came the Roman
conquest in 238 B.C. Julius Caesar later
founded here a cololy Colonia Julia. Pliny tells
us it was the only colony on the island during
his time, and we may probably infer from its name
that there was previously no town on the spot,
but merely a fort or castellum.
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The Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages Torres was the seat of a
kingdom, one of the four "judicatures"
(Giudicati) into which the island was divided.
During the XIII century the Giudicato of Torres
fell under the influence of Genoa expecially the
families of Doria and Malaspina. The Doria family
took control of the port as well as the town of
Sassari with the help of Pisa. The consequences
of this fusion were represented by a slow decline
of Torres. Just before the famous Battaglia
della Memoria (Memory Battle) in 1284 Turris had
changed its name into Portu Sassari . The port
continued nevertheless to be fundamental for
trade.
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The Aragonese Period
During the second half of XIII century the
Mediterranean was affected by wars. The Aragonese
conquered Sardinia after several battles and an
army of about 600 cavaliers and 3000 soldiers
arrived at the port of Porto Torres . This was
the final blow for the port since all remaining
links with Liguria and Tuscany were
interrupted. A sign of the presence of the
Aragonese in Porto Torres is the famous tower,
built to defend the port against invasions from
the sea. The Spanish-Aragonese domination of
Sardinia lasted from 1323 to 1713.
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From 1713 to 1717 Sardinia was under Austrian
domination, and from 1720 until the unification
with the rest of Italy, under the Savoy dynasty.
During the second half of the XVIII century the
port was restored and it started again its
activity. Under Carlo Emanuele III a stone was
set in the Tower walls in memory of the
restoration of the port. Sea traffic started
again, first with Nice and then with Genoa. In
1841 King Carlo Alberto, on a visit, was
requested to grant autonomy from Sassari to the
town. Three years later Porto Torres was
independent. On February 16th 1960 Porto Torres
becomes a città.
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PORTO TORRES MONUMENTS
The Basilica of "San Gavino The basilica is the
biggest and the oldest of Romanesque churches in
Sardinia. The building of the monument started in
1030 and it was inaugurated in 1080. The church
is 58 metres long, 19 metres large and 17 metres
high and the bricks are made of local tuff. The
builders were from Pisa and the main feature of
the monument is the presence of two apsides one
turned to est, one turned to west besides it has
a nave and two side aisles. This church had an
important role in the town of Turris Libissonis,
because it attracted many foreigners and pilgrims
especially thanks the cult of the three martyrs
Gavino, Proto and Gianuario (our local patron
saints).
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The museum Antiquarium Turritano Archaeological
museum of the found digging in Turris Libissonis
(ancient Porto Torres). At present some new areas
are being built in the museum. On the basement of
the museum there is the marble altar of C.
Cuspius Felix (found in Re Barbaro Palace), built
in honour of the Egyptian divinity Bubastis under
Roman Emperor Tiberius. On the first floor of the
museum you can find the polychrome mosaic of the
late Imperial Age- this is part of the main two
tombs found in Balai area- in which you can see
the funerary inscriptions including some
Christian symbols.
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Palazzo di Re Barbaro The name of this royal
compound came from the great "governor", who
condemned to martyrdom Gavino, Proto and
Gianuario. As soon as you enter the Antiquarium
museum you can see the remains of a residential
borough, probably part of the "first orthogonal
plant" of the Roman colony. Going straight along
the main road, built with basalt slates, there is
the main gate of the building, actually you can
see just the basement of the columns on the
borders.
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Terme Pallottino The thermal bath, which was
built during the Roman Imperial Age, took its
name from Massimo Pallottino, the archaeologist
who supervised the diggings in that area. Some
areas of the bath are still intact, such as the
northern wing which has a wide bathtub with
mosaics in the floor.
"Ponte Romano It's an extraordinary work of
architectural engineering, about 135 metres long,
built with limestone blocks. It crosses the "Rio
Mannu" river. It's composed of seven arches,
still preserved in a good state condition. It
dates back to the I century B.C.
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Monte dAccoddi A dozen kilometres from Porto
Torres to Sassari, you can find on your right the
prenuragical compound of Monte d'Accoddi, the
only example in the western Mediterranean
countries of a megalytic altar where Nuragic
people used to celebrate their rituals for the
earth's fecundity. It is a big heap of stones,
which has been recently restored. Its pyramidal
structure looks like a Mesopotamian Zigurath.
Scientists said that it was probably built during
the Copper Age (between 2,450 B.C. - 1,850
B.C.). On the top of the altar there is a big
holy stone, probably used for sacrifices, and two
"betili" ,that is "sacred stones", fallen from
the sky according to the ancient natives.
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BEACHES OF PORTO TORRES
Scogliolungo The beach of Scoglio Lungo (long
cliff) is the first of the shoreline. It is not
very long, but it is attended by many people most
of all women and children, because it is a little
bay with shallows water and services nearby. It
is called like this for the presence of a long
rock (about 100 metres) along the bay, from which
you can fishing and dive. Characteristic of this
beach is the statue of a dolphin, made of
fibreglass, in the shallow waters. The sand is
not to fine and the water of the sea is not so
clear because of seaweed transported by the
current. During the year, weather permitting,
sailing courses are organized and in summer young
people play beach soccer.
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Acque dolci Going along the promenade we meet
the coast of "Acque Dolci" (sweet waters) called
like this because underneath the seabed there are
some fresh water springs This beach is composed
of several little artificial beaches made few
years ago and they embrace most of the coast. The
sand is as thin as powder, and in the sea there
are some rocks for plunging. Owing to the small
dimension of these tiny beaches they are
frequented by few people so the atmosphere is
more intimate. Near these beaches, which are not
so far from the city center, there are small
kiosks, restaurants and bars.
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Balai The most crowded beach, particularly by
youngsters, is Balai. It is situated under the
rocky coast going eastwards. It is a sandy place,
but there are also many rocks where people go to
dive. Going on along the coast there are other
small beaches, not so popular, mainly because
they are rocky and difficult to get to. Around
Balai there is a meadow where people lay
sunbathing or play football. Here, like the beach
of "Scoglio Lungo", there are showers. In Balai
there is also the famous "Rocca Manna" (big rock)
were people go for diving.
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TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS

• Traditions in Porto Torres are very important.
• There are many festival and celebration, for
  example
• Festha Manna (Great Feast)
• Il Carnevale Estivo (Summer Carnival)
• La Corsa delle Vasche (The Bathtub Race)

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The Festha Manna The Festha Manna is dedicated
to the local martyrs St. Gavino, St. Proto, and
St. Gianuario. The festival is celebrated around
the end of May or in the first days of June.
There are demonstrations of culture, sport, music
and many tourists. People arrive from many towns
near Porto Torres, such as Sassari, Alghero,
Castelsardo, etc. The celebrations take place
during three days, particularly on the weekend.
On Saturday morning, in Piazza Umberto (the
citys square), there are exhibitions of standard
and Latin-American dances performed by dance
schools and the Latin Sails regatta across the
waters of ScoglioLungo (the main beach). In the
evening, at the Palazzetto dello Sport, there is
the international tournament of karate and still
a lot of music in the city square. On Sunday
morning, there is a parade with the statues of
the three martyrs which are carried up to Balai
church. During this festival there are many more
beautiful events such as a fun fair, animal
stalls and lights. People eat nougat, roast
suckling pig and many types of sandwiches.
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Summer Carnival Festival In Porto Torres in the
summer, people usually organize a big carnival
which takes place in the month of August and
involves adults and children. It happens on two
or three different days. The show lasts some
hours, it starts at about six oclock p.m. and
finishes late at night. The participants build
some carnival floats made of iron and
polystyrene, which parade along the town streets.
The parade starts near the beach of Balai, it
goes along the Lungomare and ends in Piazza
Umberto I, the main square of Porto Torres. The
floats usually represent amusing scenes and the
people on them paint their faces and disguise
themselves as famous characters such as heroes,
VIPs and cartoon characters. The makers try to
build very funny floats because the best of them
will be given a prize by a jury composed of the
mayor of Porto Torres and the supervisor of the
Summer Carnival. If you want to join in your must
pay some money to contribute to the building of a
Carnival float. The best Carnival floats of
previous years are Scream, Galleon, Ghostbusters,
Dragon Ball and Pokemon. The best floats of some
towns near Porto Torres take part in the Festival
too, but they cant be admitted in the
competition. For this occasion some restaurants
and bars offer free drinks exclusively for the
participants. This festival offers the
opportunity to meet new people, stay with friends
and have fun.
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The Bathtub Race The bathtub race is a very
funny festival. The festival usually takes place
in August. In the days previous to the festival
the bathtubs are adorned with nice decoration.
The race starts at three oclock in the
afternoon. Inside each bathtub there are usually
six people who wear carnival clothes such as
firemen, babies and others. First they do a trial
run. During the race, the organizers throw water,
cream, paint and slices of watermelon (that the
participant must eat) into the tubs. The first
team who arrives at the end of the street wins
the race. The winners receive a cup. The bath
race is a beautiful event to which a lot of
people come to have fun and support their team.
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THE ECONOMY OF PORTO TORRES
Since its origins, the town of Porto Torres,
situated on the north west coast of Sardinia,
had always based its economy on fishing and
agriculture. But in 1959 a petrochemical factory,
the S.I.R., was built, due to the favourable
position of the town.   The birth of the
petrochemical industry has represented an event
of great importance for the development of the
local economy and also of the province. It
contributed to the creation of many of jobs in
1978 it employed 4,000 people and more then 1,500
workers engaged in the maintenance of the system.
Just for the installation of the machines
several firms were engaged that employed another
3,000 people. There was a remarkable increase in
the population of Porto Torres when thousands of
workers came from every part of Sardinia.
The increase of the population (see diagram)
favoured also the expansion of tertiary.
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THE ECONOMIC CRISIS   Recently the area of Porto
Torres has been affected by a serious economic
and occupational crisis that has affected all
fields of the local economy. Since the 1980s,
the industrial pole of Porto Torres has lost more
than 3,000 jobs. That has caused a meaningful
regression of the economic-productive structure
of the area, which also affected commerce and the
services, having created a situation of serious
economic stagnation. The situation got worse
lately as a result of the closing of the
textile-fibre chemical pole ENICHEM with a loss
of another 200 jobs. Moreover, the completion of
the ENDESA powerhouse, has caused in the short
period a further strong expulsion of manpower
from the productive fields. The operators for the
construction of the powerhouse, in fact, passed
from 2,200 in 1992 to approximately 260 today.
The situation in the area gets even worse if one
thinks that Porto Torres has an inadequate road
and railway system, the marine port is frequently
congested
the structural problems still remain unsolved at
the local airport of Alghero-Fertilia, as is the
construction of the system of gas methane
production in Porto Torres.
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PORTO TORRES THE PORT
The Port is situated along the northern coast of
Sardinia at the centre of the Asinara Gulf.
We can distinguish a commercial and an Industrial
port the former is divided into outer harbor,
the inner port, the docks and the new docks. The
fishing vessels areas are 4, respectively of
100, 110, 140 and 231 meters long in the
industrial port, there are landing places for 150
vessels.
The port dates back to the Punic age and has a
very ancient history. Monumental remains,
sculptures, tombs and ruins attest the presence
of the Roman colony of Turris.
In 1627 the town was invaded by the Barbarian,
after which, the king decided to strengthen the
village of San Gavino and ordered the citizens to
move in a safer place.
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In 1756 Carlo Alberto III ordered the complete
restoration of the port and in 1765 works were
concluded with the building of two piers which
enclosed five hectares of surface.
About 1830, near San Gavinos Cathedral, a
village of fishermen and farmers was born, which
will soon get into conflict with the town of
Sassari.
Under the Piedmontese government Porto Torres,
started to benefit from its geographical
position, above all for its closeness to Nizza
and Genova.
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Today Porto Torres is one of the most important
landing places on the island and assures links
with Genova, Tolone, Marsiglia and Ajaccio. Many
ferries travel to the peninsula, Corsica and
France.
Outside the port there is the colossal Torre del
Porto (XVI century).
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SHOPPING IN PORTO TORRES If you want to go
shopping in Porto Torres, there aren' t many
shops, but you can find everything you want
anyway.
If you are looking for a supermarket, you can
find a lot of them, in every part of the city.
The biggest are "Conad" in Viale delle Vigne,
"Despar" at the corner between via Principe di
Piemonte and Viale delle Vigne. Finally there
is the shopping center "I Granai", where,
beside a supermarket there are also a bar, a baby
park and others shops.
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In Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the main street of
Porto Torres, there are every types of shops. You
can find tourist's shops where you can buy
souvenirs of Porto Torres.
Besides, there are some jeweller's shops. The
main are almost all in Corso Vittorio Emanuele
they are "I giganti", "Il Karato", "Andolfi"
and, in Via Ettore Sachi, "Oro In".
For your kids there are two toy shops "La Fata
dei Bambini" and "Fantasylandia". If you want to
organize a party for your children you can go to
"Camillandia", in the shopping center "I Granai".
If you want to buy them clothes there is a shop
specialized for kids, Lana" , still in Corso
Vittorio Emanuele.
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If you want to buy clothes for yourself instead,
there are some shops, where there are fashion and
very cute clothes for men, women and young
people. In Corso Vittorio Emanuele, for example,
there are "Extra" and "Fuego" , that are
especially for young people. Than there is "Noi
per Voi" for every age.
In Via Meucci there is also "Racing", a shop that
sells not only clothes, but also motorcycles,
scooters and accessories for cyclists. Finally
there is "Sfera" where you can find also bags and
shoes.
If you are looking for book, there is a bookshop
called "Bollicine" in Corso Vittorio Emanuele.If
you want music and dvds you can go to "Sun Music"
, also in the main street.
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If you want to buy the cheapest stuff there is
"Stranissimo", that sells everything for a few
euros the piece. There are also some Chinese
shops, that usually sell clothes but also
accessories. There is also "Terranova" a very
convenient clothes' shop.
Finally, only on Thursday mornings, in Viale
delle Vigne, from 7.30 a.m. to 13.30 p.m. there
is an open air market "Mercatino". Here there
are a lot of stalls, where you can find
everything from Sardinian cheese to roast
chicken, from cheap jewellery to clothes, from
bags to flowers and a lot of other things.
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PUBLIC PLACES IN PORTO TORRES These are the most
important restaurants and pizzerias
"Piazza Garibaldi" Pizzeria "Piazza Garibaldi"
pizzeria is situated in the homonymous square.
You can reach it by the main road of the town
centre or by Via "Lungomare". This is a pizzeria
but it is also a restaurant beside pizza you can
eat other dishes and sea-food, such as mussels,
sea-urchins, crayfish and squids. The veranda in
the open air makes is one of the best restaurants
in Porto Torres.
"San Gavino" - Pizzeria This pizza restaurant is
situated in a quarter called Monte Angellu. Near
this pizzeria there is the famous church of "San
Gavino", a basilica church built in the
Romanesque period. It is not very far from the
main square. The pizza is very good.
Lybissonis It is a hotel/restaurant which is also
used for wedding receptions and as a disco for
private parties. It is the most prestigious
hotel in Porto Torres. Lately, after the recent
rewiring it increased the number of customers.
It is located in the suburbs of the town. It is
the best place for a holiday.
"L'Ostrica This is, also a restaurant-pizzeria.
It is situated along the Lungomare, with a view
on Balai Beach. A pleasant place to spend a nice
evening.
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In Porto Torres there are not only pizzerias and
restaurants, but there are also many bars, that
are situated almost all in the city centre.
Bar Galeone Bar placed along the shore in front
of the Acque Dolci beaches. It is mostly
frequented by teenagers. During the summer, in
this bar, you can listen to live music played by
local groups.
Bar Acciaro Bar situated on the main road near
the principal square. It is also a confectioner
and an ice-cream shop. Veranda at the open air,
with view on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele. It is
the right place for a nice breakfast.
Bar Cristallo Bar near to the Aragonese tower at
the ports main entrance. It is one of the most
elegant bars in Porto Torres. It is on three
floors. Perfect place for rich lunches and
dinners.
Bar Sport This bar is situated in the main
square. It is built on two floors with a space in
the open air. Inside the bar there is also a
maxi-screen. You can enjoy excellent dinners.
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CREDITS
La Classe 3 A A.S. 2006-07
FRANCESCA ACCIARO CLAUDIA ADDIS ALESSIA
ALBA ANDREA ARGIOLAS ROBERTO ATZENI GIANNI
BALLONE SILVIA BASSU FLAVIA CARBONI CARLA
CARUCCIU LORENA CARTA MARZIA COSSU ELIANA
DALLOCCHIO ALBERTO DEDOLA
ALESSANDRO DEROMA CHRISTIAN ERRE LUIGI
FERRARO MICHELE FOIS FRANCESCA GADAU ILENIA
LEPORI VITTORIO MARCHI ELISA OGGIANU FRANCESCO
PORQUEDDU GABRIELE SECHI FEDERICA TERNULLO SONIA
VERBOSO
Editor Alessia Alba