Silanus, Church of San Lorenzo

Silanus is located in the heart of Sardinia, in the Marghine, near Mount Arbu and numerous watercourses, including the Riu Bidiene. The territory is rich in archaeological documentation, especially from the Nuragic age. A short distance from the town are the nuraghe and the church of Santa Sabina. The site of the church of San Lorenzo, on the other hand, corresponds to a limestone quarry that is still partially active.
So far, no documentary evidence has been found on the date of the erection of the church of San Lorenzo di Silanus, which, due to its formal characteristics, refers to the Cistercian workers active in the abbey of Santa Maria di Corte around the middle of the 12th century.
The church has a single room, with an E-shaped apse and wooden roof, and is entirely made of dark volcanic stone. A series of single-light windows and a cruciform light in the pediment and let the light penetrate the room. Robust corner protectors secure the elevations.
The façade, concluded by a sailing bell tower, has an arched portal surmounted by a pointed drain arch. Halfway through the mirror there is a horizontal frame under which there are seven arches on variously worked feet, which continue in the sides and in the apse. Inside, fragments of frescoes ascribed to the first half of the 13th century are preserved.

History of studies
The history of studies on the church of San Lorenzo di Silanus starts from the entry 'Silanus' (1850) by Vittorio Angius, in the Casalis' Dictionary '; from the following century are the studies of Raphael Delogu (1948 and 1953). In 1981, Vico Mossa's contribution came out, followed by the study by Giuseppe Masia (1982) and the publication edited by Franco Antonio Vargiu (1987), with interesting graphic importance. Also worth mentioning are the fact sheet included in Renata Serra's volume on Romanesque Sardinia (1989) and the articles by Maria Cristina Cannas and Alma Casula (1990). Roberto Coroneo is a brief summary in the volume on Romanesque architecture in Sardinia (1993).

Bibliography
V. Angius, “Silanus”, in G. Casalis, Historical and Statistical Geographical Dictionary of the States by H.M. the King of Sardinia, XX, Turin, G. Maspero, 1850, p. 138;
R. Delogu, “Cistercian Architectures of Sardinia”, in Sardinian Studies, VIII, 1948, pp. 115-116; R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, pp. 140-141;
V. Mossa, Architecture and Landscape in Sardinia, Sassari, Delfino, 1981, p. 80; G. Masia, The Abbey of Cabuabbas in Sindia (1149)
and its spiritual and social influence in the 12th and 13th centuries, Sassari, Sassari, Tipography Artigiana Sassarese, 1982, pp. 90-91; San Lorenzo di Silanus. Santa Sabina di Silanus, edited by F.A. Vargiu, Ozieri, Il Torchietto, 1987; R. Serra, Sardinia, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 412-413;
M.C. Cannas, “Sculptural decorations in the Cistercian churches of Sardinia”, in The Cistercians in Sardinia. Aspects and problems of a Benedictine monastic Order in medieval Sardinia, edited by G. Spiga, Nuoro, Provincial Administration of Nuoro, 1990, pp. 254-55;
A. Casula, “Testimonies of Cistercian Architecture in Northern Sardinia”, in The Cistercians in Sardinia. Aspects and problems of a Benedictine monastic Order in medieval Sardinia, edited by G. Spiga, Nuoro, Provincial Administration of Nuoro, 1990, p. 227;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the Mid Thousand to the Early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 58; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia. Tourist-cultural itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 59.