Former Tobacco Factory / Caritas

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Until the 1960s, this building was the local tobacco factory, started in the early 1920s by Bishop Virgilio of Tortolì to give steady work to young women with few opportunities. In less than a year, the quality of its tobacco proved excellent. Encouraged by this success, the bishop asked Finance Minister Giovanni Battista Bertone for permission to buy a larger plot of land. Soon, even Prime Minister Francesco Saverio Nitti and Sardinian deputy Sanna Randaccio supported the project.

With the expansion, production grew quickly. By 1922, Tortolì tobacco had won the prize for “best tobacco produced in Sardinia” and was crowned “Tobacco Prince” at the Sassari exhibition. For more than forty years, its leaves stood for top quality—until the factory finally closed in the early 1960s.

Today, its sturdy walls and spacious rooms host the Diocesan Caritas. Here, new projects for solidarity and support are planned, and the building still carries forward the spirit of community and help with which it was founded almost a century ago.