Nurachi, Baptistery and Church of San Giovanni Battista

The church is located in the center of the town of Nurachi, of which it is the parish church.
The archaeological investigation carried out below the floor of the current building dedicated to Saint John has brought to light an older church with a baptistery.
Church and baptistery were assigned, on the basis of typological comparisons, to the 6th century A.D. The church is probably to be related to the needs of the populations that lived in the countryside surrounding this small town located along the Othoca-Cornus road, perhaps a “statio”, identifiable with the Annuagras (Ad Nuragas) quoted by Anonymous Ravennate.
The small worship room (m 11 x 4) has a Latin cross plan and consists of a single apsed aisle and two square-shaped rooms placed on the sides of the presbytery. The S-shaped compartment (m 2.30 on the side) served as a baptistery and could be reached directly from the presbytery, through a door, or from the outside, along a corridor parallel to the southern side of the church. The other room on the N side, mirrored to the baptistery, was probably a 'pastophorium', that is, a sort of sacristy.
In the center of the baptistery, a circular pool was still found “in situ” outside (diam. m 1.50), while inside (diameter m 0.65) it was surrounded by four lobes arranged in a cross, containing a step. The tub, covered with white plaster, was equipped with a channel that allowed excess water to flow out. The floor of the compartment consisted of a simple lime plane.
Around the church there was a necropolis, with burials of different types (simple pit tombs, lithic box tombs, “enchytrismoi”, sarcophagi), dating back to the 6th-7th century AD.

History of excavations The
excavation in the church of San Giovanni Battista was carried out between 1982 and 1983 by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage in collaboration with the Superintendence of the BAAAS for the Provinces of Cagliari and Oristano. The structures highlighted by the archaeological investigation have been covered and only the baptismal font on the right side of the church is visible, underneath a glass inserted in the modern floor.

Nurachi bibliography. Story of an Ecclesia, Oristano, S'Alvure, 1985;
R. Zucca, “The Baptistery of Nurachi”, in Roman and Early Medieval Archaeology in the Oristano Area. Proceedings of the Conference, Taranto, 1986, pp. 23-32;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the Mid Thousand to the Early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 66;
P.G. Spanu, Byzantine Sardinia between the 6th and 7th centuries, series “Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean. Excavations and research”, Oristano, S'Alvure, 1998, pp. 148-150;
P.G. Spanu, “The Christianization of the Rural Environment in Sardinia”, in Early Christian Sardinia between Eusebio and Gregory the Great. Proceedings of the National Study Conference, Cagliari, 1999, pp. 485-495;
P.G. Spanu, “Sardinia”, in At the origins of the rural parish (4th-8th century). Proceedings of the thematic day of the Christian Archaeology Seminars, Vatican City, 1999, pp. 181-204; V. Fiocchi Nicolai-S.
Gelichi, “Nurachi (OR). Saint John the Baptist”, in “Baptisteries and Rural Churches (IV-VII Century)”, in The Baptismal Building in Italy. Aspects and problems. Proceedings of the 8th National Congress of Christian Archaeology, Bordighera, 2001, pp. 368-370;
P.G. Spanu, “Traffic and Rural Settlements”, in On the Borders of the Empire. History, art and archeology of Byzantine Sardinia, curated by P. Corrias-S. Cosentino, Cagliari, M&T Sardinia, 2002, pp. 115-125.