Calasetta (Ligurian: Câdesédda) is a small town (population 2,919) and comune located on the island of Sant'Antioco, off the Southwestern coast of Sardinia, Italy.

In the middle of the 16th century a group of Ligurian families - many of them from Pegli near Genoa - moved to a deserted island off the coast of the Tunisian city of Tabarka in order to work the waters as coral fishermen.

These enterprising Ligurian families of Tabarka quickly expanded from coral fishing to trade between the African interior and European markets.

They were received by King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy in the Kingdom of Sardinia, who gave them the Island of San Pietro to settle.

In 1773, more colonists from Piedmont asked for permission to settle Calasetta, but illness and unexpected conditions caused them to return almost immediately.