Quartiere Villanova is north of Quartiere Marina and below the eastern slopes of the citadel. Map here.
The area is famous for its brightly coloured houses which feature on many postcards.
In Piazza Constituzione is the Bastione di Saint Remy, built in 1901 on the defensive wall of the citadel. You can usually get into the citadel through it but it was closed for restoration when I was there in 2015.
At the top of the stairs is a covered promenade and a huge terrace with views over the city.
On the other side of the square at 10/11 Piazza Costituzione, to the east of the rampart, is the Antico Caffè www.anticocaffe1855.it, the oldest café in the city (since 1855) and a local cultural institution.
This was the literary hangout for writers such as D.H.Lawrence who was in town writing his book ‘Sea and Sardinia’.
It functions as a café and tea room in the day time and a bistro and wine and cocktail bar in the evenings. It’s also a celebrated patisserie and creperie. There’s an outdoor terrace and the food is okay according to Fodor’s guide.
I stopped in for a macchiato and a Pardule, and to see its attractive Liberty Stile interior.
Suitably fortified, it was now time for me to attack the citadel!