Quartu Sant'Elena [ˈkwartu sanˈteːlena] (Sardinian: Cuartu Sant'Aleni), located four miles East from Cagliari on the ancient Roman road, is a city and comune in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It is the third biggest city of Sardinia with a population of 71,216 as of 2015^[update].

The city's name comes from its distance to Cagliari (Quartum miles, Latin for “four miles”), and from the passage there of St. Helena, mother of emperor Constantine.

The first traces of human presence in Quartu are from the Prenuragic, Nuragic and Phoenician period, as attested by findings in Cepola, Geremeas, Is Mortorius and Separassiu localities. Roman findings were found near Sant’Andrea villa, a graveyard at S. Martino and a few tombs at Simbirizzi.

In the 11th century AD Sardinia was divided into four Giudicati: Quartu, which included fourteen villas, belonged to the Giudicato of Cagliari. In 1066 Quartu was given to Cagliari’s archbishop and then went back to Judge Torchitorio II of Cagliari. During the Aragonese rule, Quartu suffered from famines, plague, malaria and continuous raids from Saracen pirates, following the general path of decay of the whole of Sardinia.

In 1793 the soldiers of a French fleet landed on the coast of Quartu, with the intention of conquering the whole island; the people of the city, led by Antonio Pisanu, assailed the French and repelled them after a bloody battle.

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