Municipal Art and Culture Center Exma, Cagliari

EXMA is the old Slaughterhouse of Cagliari; its construction dates back to the mid-1800s by Domenico Bocabino. 

The original project included a main building in the center of a large square and four smaller buildings at the corners of the enclosure; a huge cistern, located in the open space, ensured the water supply for the slaughterhouse activities. The complex extended over a larger area, reduced due to the widening works of via Sonnino carried out in the 1930s. The main entrance was on via San Lucifero, consisting of a large portal, decorated with a bovine protome in the center and two ram protomes on the sides, all made of marble. The slaughterhouse was active until 1966, the year when the new building on via Po was completed. The municipal administration returned this space to the city, dedicating it as a cultural place, after careful restoration of the 19th-century structures and organization of the open spaces.