Galtellì, Church of San Pietro

Galtellì is located on the slopes of Mount Tuttavista, in such a position as to dominate a valley that opens to the sea following the course of the Cedrino river. The complex of San Pietro includes the bell tower and two medieval churches (one of which is unfinished) and corresponds to the ancient cathedral of the diocese of Galtellì, whose headquarters have been transferred to Nuoro.
On the site of the seat of the medieval diocese of Galtellì, there are three buildings: the bell tower, probably built in the late sixteenth century on an older tower; a large Romanesque cathedral, which remained unfinished and incorporated into the walls of the cemetery; another church, smaller and single-naved, of perhaps early medieval origins, decorated at the beginning of the 13th century with a cycle of frescoes and later expanded to three naves, with the reconstruction of the apse and serious damage to the paintings, which reemerged only thanks to the recent restoration of the recent restoration.
Built perhaps around 1090, the great Romanesque church of San Pietro was supposed to serve as the cathedral of the diocese of Galtellum. The small church, always dedicated to Saint Peter, probably already existed, but unsuitable for housing the bishop's chair. In 1138, the diocese of Galtellì came under the control of the archbishopric of Pisa and perhaps this dependence, as well as the lack of funds, led to the suspension of the construction site.
The cathedral was supposed to look like an impressive building, made of local sedimentary stone, in the shape of a “commissioned” cross. Only the N side of the room, the transept and the oriented apse were erected, all up to the height of the monophora with a smooth thrombus. Two episcopal tombs were placed in the outer walls. In area N, a late medieval necropolis has been identified.
Following the abandonment of the construction site, the great cathedral remained unfinished and the bishop continued to reside in the pre-existing church, ennobled by frescoes attributed to Umbrian-Lazio painters of the first decades of the 13th century. The cycle includes on the right side the stories of the Old Testament, on the left side the stories of the New Testament. Few painted fragments are preserved in the counterfaçade, while the frescoes in the apse have been completely lost.

History of studies
For the description of the complex, the monograph by Antonio Cambedda (1995) is useful, but he dates the unfinished church to the 13th century. For a proposal for a higher chronology, at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century, refer to Roberto Coroneo's profile in the volume “Romanesque Architecture from the Middle of the Thousand to the Early '300" (1993). Subsequently, the thirteenth-century frescoes inside the church of San Pietro were enhanced, with contributions mainly by Renata Serra, including the card in “Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Sardinia” (2004).

Bibliography
V. Angius, “Galtellì”, in G. Casalis, Historical and Statistical Geographical Dictionary of the States by H.M. the King of Sardinia, VI, Turin, G. Maspero, 1840, pp. 199-207;
P.M. Marcello, The Diocese of Galtellì, Sassari, Stamperia Artistica, 1983, pp. 123-124;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the Mid Thousand to the Early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso , 1993, sheet 15; A. Cambedda, Military and Religious Architecture in Galtellì from the Middle Ages to the early 1900s Evo at Nineteenth Century, Nuoro, Solinas, 1995, pp. 55-97; R. Coroneo-R.
Serra, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Sardinia, series “Italian Artistic Heritage”, Milan, Jaca Book, 2004, pp. 197-201; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia.
Tourist-cultural itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, pp. 63-64.