Since ancient times, today's Piazza del Carmine has played a central role in the fabric of the city. It was, in fact, the forum of the Roman Karales, the most important place for the community at the time. We know from numerous discoveries and artifacts, many of which are preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Cagliari, that temples and baths stood around the square, characterizing an area that extended to Largo Carlo Felice on one side and to Viale Trieste on the other. There was also a late Republican temple-theater located in the area of today's Via Malta.
Even in the following centuries, given its central location, the square continued to arouse interest. Thus, in the second half of the 19th century, it attracted the attention of Cagliari's bourgeoisie and was the subject of an attempt at modernization. The first projects were entrusted to Giuseppe Sbressa and then to Gaetano Cima, but they were never realized. Later, it was the turn of the lawyer and entrepreneur Francesco Todde Deplano who, taking up earlier projects, attempted to create a square surrounded by porticoed buildings, symmetrical and with an opening projecting onto the current Viale Trieste, drawing inspiration from models in other cities, such as Turin. Meanwhile, the area, from an ancient forum of the Roman Karales, had transformed into a predominantly industrial zone.
The project, perhaps overly ambitious, coupled with Todde's controversial personality, failed to take off. Following a series of events that led to the financial collapse of several banks, including those involving the Municipality of Cagliari itself, bankruptcy ensued, followed by a tragedy. During an inspection of the only building constructed in the square, several Cagliari residents climbed onto scaffolding that collapsed. Todde himself was also killed in the tragedy. The square subsequently took on the appearance we know today. Despite the watchful gaze of the statue of the Madonna, which during the 1943 bombings rotated on its axis due to turbulence, the square struggled to regain its place as the center of city activity.
