Techniques and materials

In the architectural landscape of Sardinian Romanesque architecture, the repertoire of plants includes first of all the type of church with a longitudinal structure, with a semicircular apse to the east. The most important cathedrals and churches have three naves, divided by arches on columns or pillars.

The capitals are sometimes examples of marble from the Roman age, for reuse. The naves can have wooden roofs or stone vaults. They were made barrel vaults, with or without grooves, or by cross. Several churches, especially in the 12th century, had a mixed roof system: wooden ceiling in the central aisle and barrel or cross vaulted on the sides. The outer roofs are almost always tiled.

Another type of plan is the one with two naves, both with apses, used for a group of 12th-13th century buildings, often with barrel vaults. Most of the Romanesque churches in Sardinia, especially the smaller ones, however, have a single aisle plan, mainly covered in wood. In this type of building characterized by simple construction, the barrel bell tower is missing, replaced by the sail one raised on the façade.

Apart from two churches completely built of bricks, the material used is stone, cut into machined blocks and carefully put in place. The availability in local quarries determines the use of sedimentary (limestone, sandstone, tuff) or volcanic (granite, andesite) stone blocks. When it is present in the form of columns or sculpted capitals, white marble is always the result of reuse. In fact, the island lacks white marble quarries exploited in ancient times and capable of providing materials in quantities useful for mining for construction purposes.

Update

25/9/2023 - 22:57