Bidonì, Church of San Pietro

The territory of Bidonì, rich in archaeological documentation starting from prehistoric times, is important for finds from the Roman age. The area where the church of San Pietro is located preserves the remains of the Benedictine monastery to which the cult building was attached, in which an important Latin epigraph is preserved. The church is located within the perimeter of the cemetery.
The church of San Pietro di Bidonì is an example of “minor” Romanesque architecture but no less significant, as it is characterized by an appreciable, extreme construction simplicity.
The oldest documentary mention of the church dates back to the beginning of the 12th century and can be traced back to the act by which the Arborese judge Constantino I de Lacon-Serra founded the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria di Bonarcado, entrusting to him, among other churches, the “domo de sanctu Petru de Vidoni”. The reconstruction of the building dates back to the second half of the 12th century.
The plan is longitudinal, developed about eight meters long, with an E-shaped apse. The building material is vulcanite of different shades, from red to pale yellow, but the cutting of medium-sized cantons is always very careful, as is their assembly.
In the façade, almost 6 meters high, there is an architraved and lunetted portal with the lintel hanging over the perimeter walls. The different size of the ashlars in the upper part of the façade suggests that it has undergone changes. Along the S side, a portal, now walled up, and two single-light windows opened up. On the N side, a third portal opens, while the apse is perfectly oriented to E, in which a monophorous window opens with the same care demonstrated in the other parts of the building.
The only concessions to the decorative element are the eyebrow just engraved on the shell at the top of the apse monophorous and the theory of round arches set on decorated feet, crowning the apse just below the roof. Even inside, the church is stripped of any ornament; the nave is covered by a wooden roof supported by sturdy trusses.

History of studies
The church was published for the first time by Renata Serra in 1989 and registered by Roberto Coroneo in 1993. The two scholars have outlined the historical and artistic framework in relation to the judicial context.

Bibliography
V. Angius, “Bidonì”, in G. Casalis, Historical and Statistical Geographical Dictionary of the States by H.M. the King of Sardinia, II, Turin, G. Maspero, 1833, pp. 293-297;
R. Serra, Sardinia, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 374;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the Mid Thousand to the Early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 28; M. Picciau, “The submerged architecture. Notes on the Camaldolese church of San Pietro di Bidonì”, in Quaderni Bolotanesi, 21, 1995, pp. 165-182; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia. Tourist-cultural itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 69.