Oschiri, Church of Our Lady of Castro

Oschiri is located in Monte Acuto, near the Coghinas River. The territory, very varied from an environmental point of view, has returned archaeological traces of settlement continuity since prehistoric times. Near the rural site where the church of Our Lady stands, on top of a hill, are the ruins of a Roman fort, known by the toponym Castro, which gave its name to the church and diocese of which it was the cathedral in the Middle Ages.
Our Lady of Castro or Castra owes its name to the diocese, documented between 1116 and 1503, and is an example of how, in the Middle Ages, cathedrals did not necessarily have to have large dimensions, but could also be small, as in this case.
The church was built in the middle of the 12th century in red volcanic stone, cut in well-squared cantons. It has a single-wave floor plan; the dimensions in length are derived from the repetition of the square module based on the width of the room itself, which has a wooden roof.
The façade is enclosed by sturdy corner pilasters; the mirror is divided by two thin pilasters connected by arches in groups of three. Two semicolumns are leaning against the side of the façade pilasters. In the sides and in the apse, single-light windows open with double shutters; cruciform lights open in the pediment of the apse as well as on the façade.

History of studies
The historiography of Castro's cathedral is extensive. It starts with the voice 'Castra' (1837) by Vittorio Angius followed by the voice 'Oschiri' (1845) by the same author, both included in the Casalis' Dictionary '; about fifty years later, the contribution of Dionigi Scano (1907) followed by that of Raffaello Delogu (1953) is placed. Aldo Sari's 1981 article; three years later, Francesco Amadu's work on the diocese of Castro (1984). Finally, the cards in the volumes by Renata Serra (1989) and Roberto Coroneo (1993), both on Romanesque Sardinia, are worth mentioning.

Bibliography
V. Angius, “Castra”, in G. Casalis Historical, Statistical and Commercial Geographical Dictionary of the States by S. M. the King of Sardinia, III, Turin, G. Maspero, 1837, pp. 277-278;
V. Angius, “Oschiri”, in G. Casalis Historical, Statistical and Commercial Geographical Dictionary of the States of S. M. the King of Sardinia, XIII, Turin, G. Maspero, 1845, pp. 608-609;
D. Scano, History of Art in Sardinia from the 11th to the 14th Century, Cagliari-Sassari, Montorsi, 1907, p. 334; R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome
, The State Library, 1953, p. 72;
A. Sari, “New architectural testimonies for the knowledge of the Middle Ages in Sardinia”, in the Sardinian Historical Archive, XXXII, 1981, pp. 65-116;
F. Amadu, The medieval diocese of Castro, Ozieri, Il Torchietto, 1984, pp. 18-19;
R. Serra, Sardinia, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 406-407; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the mid-thousand to the early 1900s, Nuoro,, 1993, sheet 18;
R. Coroneo-R.
Serra, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Sardinia, series “Italian Artistic Heritage”, Milan, Jaca Book, 2004, pp. 279-280; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia.
Tourist-cultural itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 53.

How to
get there Take the SS 597 from Sassari until a few kilometers before the town of Oschiri, where you meet the detour to reach the site of the church of Our Lady of Castro.