PORTO TORRES

Latin Turris Libisonis, town, Sassari province, northwestern Sardinia, Italy. It lies along the Gulf of Asinara (an inlet of the Mediterranean) at the mouth of the Mannu River, just northwest of Sassari city, for which it is the port. Originally a Phoenician port, it was later controlled by the Carthaginians and by the Romans, who called it Turris Libisonis. In the Middle Ages it was the chief town of the giudicato (judiciary circuit, a territorial division) of Torres until Saracen raids led to the removal inland to Tathari (Sassari) of many of its inhabitants in the 12th century. Its archbishop was transferred to Sassari in 1441. There are remains of a Roman bridge nearby, and the so-called Palazzo del Re Barbaro may be the ruins of a Roman temple of Fortuna. The former cathedral, San Gavino, dates from the 11th and 12th centuries and is one of Sardinia's most notable churches. Commerce and fishing are important, and the port has passenger connections to Corsica. Pop. (1984 est.) mun., 21,295.