Siddi, Church of San Michele Arcangelo

The town of Siddi is located at the foot of the plateau of Pranu or Giara di Siddi, rich in archaeological evidence. The church dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo is on a small relief, in the Santu Miali area on the outskirts of the town. It is not far from the parish church dedicated to the Visitation of the Virgin Mary.
In the Middle Ages, Siddi's “villa” was included in the court of Arborea and was dependent on the curatorship of Marmilla and the diocese of Usellus (Ales). When, in 1206, Guglielmo I-Salusio IV de Lacon-Massa, judge of Cagliari, and Ugone I de Bas-Serra, judge of Arborea, specified the boundaries of their judges, Siddi stayed at the Arborea.
The Romanesque building was erected in the second half of the 13th century. It has a plan with two naves, divided by pillars with an octagonal section, and a single, rather squat apse, facing N/E, which ends the S aisle, larger than the other. Probably even the smaller nave must have been an apsidate, as can be assumed when looking at the sides of the building, both remodeled. In the apse, a trumpeted single-light window opens up, with a half-round curtain.
The church underwent restoration work in 1960; the original brown sandstone masonry is preserved in the façade, in the partition and in the apse. In the small façade (7.27 m), the frieze sculpted on the lintel of the S. portal is interesting, which shows, within four squares, five anthropomorphic figures with broad shoulders and slender limbs, separated by vertical bands with a diamond pattern, stylization of the classicist pattern with woven ribbon. The first figure, inverted, perhaps points to Lucifer, the fallen angel; the last two, which are not separated from each other by the gang, but rather are tied together, could be Adam and Eve. The remaining ones could represent one the archangel Michael, to whom the church is dedicated, and the other, larger, God the Father.

History of studies
Recorded in the nineteenth century by Abbot Vittorio Angius as a parish church in Siddi, the church in the twentieth century was the subject of research by Raffaello Delogu, according to which, considering the remodeled N and E walls, the building originally had to be bisected. The scholar drew comparisons with the church of San Pantaleo in Dolianova, considering Siddi's monument the work of workers in contact with that construction site. Renata Serra, Mauro Botteri and Roberto Coroneo later dealt with the church and its figurative frieze, a controversial interpretation.

Bibliography
V. Angius, entry “Siddi”, in G. Casalis, Historical and Statistical-Commercial Geographical Dictionary of the States of His Excellency the King of Sardinia, XX, Turin, G. Maspero, 1850, p. 129;
G. Lilliu, “Sixteenth Century Civil Architecture in Marmilla”, in Studi Sardi, V, 1941, pp. 182-183, note 2;
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, p. 190; F. Alziator, “Theme of death in the rave of the church of San Michele di Siddi”, in Sardo Bibliographic Bulletin, XXII, 1976, pp. 5-6;
M. Botteri, Guide to the Medieval Churches of Sardinia, Sassari, Chiarella, 1978, p. 141; The Province of Cagliari. The Municipalities, edited by N. Sciannameo-F. Sardi, Cinisello Balsamo, Silvana, 1985 (II ed.), p. 266;
R. Serra, La Sardegna, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 377-378;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque architecture from the middle of the thousand to the early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 139;
S. Mele, “Country Sheets”, “Worksheets”, in Inside the Marmilla, Environment, History, Culture, Lunamatrona, Graphics of Parteolla, 2000, Coroneo. 6, sch 6.1; R., Romanesque churches of Sardinia. Cultural tourist itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 82.

Tag

Content type: Religious architecture

Province: South Sardinia

Common: Siddi

Macro Territorial Area: South Sardinia

POSTAL CODE: 09020

Address: via S. Michele, s.n.c.

Telephone: +39 070 939888 +39 347 5116787

E-mail: coopvillasilli@gmail.com

Website: parrocchiasiddi.wixsite.com/parrocchiasiddi/chiesa-san-michele-arcangelo www.museoparcosiddi.it/escursioni/luoghi-di-interesse

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CooperativaVillaSilli

Information on tickets and access: The Villa Sili Cooperative, in Siddi, offers a guided tour service for the Church of San Michele Arcangelo. For more information on how to visit and the cost of the service, we recommend visiting the cooperative's website.

Update

27/11/2023 - 12:52

Where is it

Siddi, Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo Images number: 9