Cagliari, Church of Hope

The church is in the district that was the hub of political and religious power in Cagliari between the 13th and 19th centuries.
The small church is presented as a product of architecture based on the Gothic-Catalan taste. Its history is also closely linked to the civil life of Cagliari: in fact, it brought together the military establishment, the arm of the Sardinian parliament that brought together the representatives of the nobility.
The main façade on Via Duomo is rather simple, devoid of ornamentation, with a flat crown and a small sailing bell tower. The arched portal with an pointed bezel stands out, dominated by a pointed arch resting on perforated capitals. Above the portal there are two windows, including the coat of arms of the Aymerich, Marquis of Laconi, whose family the church was a noble chapel.
Inside, the church has a rectangular room obtained from two square modules twice the length of the width. The vault, however, organizes the space in three bays, since instead of offering two square crosses, a reflection of the plan, it is formed by a square, ribbed central cross, and two semi-cruises dotted with hanging gems leaning against short walls. The pendulous gem of the central cross repeats the coat of arms of the Aymerich family together with the double-headed eagle that was conferred on the family by King Charles V after the battle of Tunis in 1535: this date, which would therefore be the post-Quem term for the erection of the building, is however contradicted by a document from which it appears that the Aymerichs established a benefit for their chapel in 1494.
The tripartition of the space is reflected in the three chapels, turned in a cross shape, which open with round arches on the right side of the room: rectangular at both ends, at the semicruises, the central one almost square. This original way of conceiving the vault using half cruises can also be found in a chapel in the church of Santa Lucia, in the nearby Via Martini, and in the shrine of the Sacristy of the Beneficiaries in the cathedral, buildings from the middle of the 16th century.

History of studies Formerly
studied by Renata Serra, the church is the subject of a summary fact sheet in the volume by Francesca Segni Pulvirenti and Aldo Sari on late-Gothic and Renaissance-influenced architecture (1994).

Bibliography
G. Spano, Guide to the city and surroundings of Cagliari, Cagliari, Timon, 1861;
R. Serra, “The parishes of Assemini, Sestu and Settimo S. Pietro. Notes for a history of late Gothic architecture in Sardinia”, in Proceedings of the XIII Congress on the History of Architecture. Sardinia, Rome, 1966;
R. Serra, “Sardinian-Catalan architecture”, in The Catalans in Sardinia, edited by J. Carbonell-F. Manconi, Cinisello Balsamo, Silvana, 1984;
A. Sari, “The Architecture of the Sixteenth Century”, in Sardinian society in the Spanish Age, edited by F. Manconi, I, Quart, Regional Council of Sardinia, 1992;
F. Segni Pulvirenti - A. Sari, Late Gothic and Renaissance-influenced architecture. Nuoro, Ilisso, 1994, sheet 35;
Archdiocese of Cagliari, series “Churches and sacred art in Sardinia”, Cagliari, Zonza, Cagliari 1999;
S. Murgia, Muravera and its churches in archival documents, Dolianova, Grafica del Parteolla, 2005.