The old town of Sassari occupies the medieval core of the city — a tangle of narrow lanes, stone staircases, and small squares that climbs the hill from the Fontana del Rosello to the cathedral. The architecture reflects the various rulers who have controlled the city: Pisan and Genoese Gothic, Spanish Baroque churches, and plain Sardinian vernacular housing of grey stone and wrought-iron balconies.
Walking the old town is the primary pleasure of Sassari. There is no specific route to follow — wander up from the Rosello fountain, find the cathedral, explore the lanes between them. The neighbourhood is still genuinely inhabited by working-class Sassaresi rather than having been gentrified into restaurants and tourist shops, which gives it an authentic, if slightly worn, character.