  In this paper we present the first results of the analysis of intermediate
resolution ($\Delta\lambda \sim 3.5 \AA$) spectra of giants of the Sagittarius
dwarf galaxy acquired using the ESO NTT telescope. From the deep CCD photometry
of Marconi et al (1998a) we have selected a sample of giants representative of
the metallicity spread suggested by the comparison of the colour-magnitude
diagram of Sagittarius with those of galactic globular clusters. The spectra
have been used to measure radial velocities, to confirm the membership to
Sagittarius, and to provide a metallicity estimate by using spectral synthesis
techniques. The analyzed stars show a spread in metallicities in the range
-1.0<[Fe/H]<+0.7, some 0.5 dex more metal-rich than the photometric estimates.
