Porto Torres (Sardinia Italy)

Porto Torres is a port town on Sardinia Island's northwestern coast. Built as a Phoenician port, Porto Torres was later controlled by Carthaginians and Romans. The town has population around 23,000.

The port is dominated by Torre Aragonese, defensive tower created by the Spanish but the city centre features little else of interest. The Roman remains in Parco Archeologico include a Roman bridge. The so-called Palazzo del Re Barbaro, was the public bathing facility of the Roman city. Basilica di San Gavino is the former cathedral, dating from 11th and 12th centuries. It is one of the most notable churches in Sardinia. South of Porto Torres is Monte d'Accoddi temple, built around 3000 BC. Eastwards cruisers can visit 12th century fortress town Castelsardo with its amazing cliff top views over mountain and sea. Nearby is Sassari, Sardinia's 2nd largest city and site of two 13th-century Romanesque churches.

As ferry port, Porto Torres is connected by ferries with Marseille, Genoa, Toulon, Civitavecchia, Propriano, Barcelona, Expressway SS131/E25 to Cagliari and Sassari, and a national road (SS200) to Santa Teresa Gallura. A railway connects the town with Sassari, as well as the rest of the island.

Chemical industries support Porto Torres' modern economy. Fiume Santo is a 1,040 MW power station that is owned by E.ON, located 5 to 10 kilometres (3 to 6 miles) west from the port, in Sassari municipality. Plans are in progress, related to industrial conversion, where 7 research centres work upon the transformation "from traditional fossil fuel related industry to integrated production chain from vegetable oil using oleaginous seeds to bio-plastics".