Tergu, Church of Our Lady

The church is on the outskirts of the modern town, on the site of the Roman settlement of Cericum. Here in the Middle Ages stood the most important Benedictine monastery in Anglona, the seat of the Cassino priory, to which the church of Santa Maria (or Our Lady) of Tergu was annexed.
The church of Our Lady of Tergu is characterized by the pleasantness of the façade, played on the contrast between the light limestone memberships and the vulcanite wall in red-violet tones.
In 1122 it was listed as a possession of the Cassino monks with the title of “Sancta Maria de Therco”, but the year of donation is unknown. The 'Libellus Judicum Turritanorum' wants it founded by Mariano I de Lacon Gunale, judge of Torres between 1065 and 1082. Two fragments of the inscription report the news of work in the monastery in the second half of the 12th century, when it is likely that the façade was rebuilt. In the 15th century, the monastery was incorporated into the archbishop's soup kitchen in Torres. The access portal and part of the ruins of the monastic complex are attributed to this period. The layout of the façade and its decorations are reminiscent of Pisan models from the second half of the 12th century.
The church has a “commission” cross plan, with a square-barrel bell tower next to N. It is likely that the original system was a single-aisled classroom with an N/E apse, which later became a “commissioned” cross with the transept insert. The arms of the transept are turned in a barrel but open towards the room with an ogive arch.
The wall walls on the sides have a shoe-shaped base and flush cut arches. The façade lacks the pediment, which collapsed over time. The first order is set up on large blind arches; in the central one, the architraved portal opens, surmounted by a drain arch that alternates volcanic stone ashlars with limestone ashlars. In the second order, a quadrilobed oculus opens into the false loggia of four columns, two of which are in a zigzag pattern.

History of studies
The church is mentioned by Vittorio Angius (1849). Dionigi Scano (1907), then Raffaello Delogu (1953) fully analyze it. The most recent contributions are by Renata Serra (1989) and Roberto Coroneo (1993). Gianpietro Dore (1994) was responsible for an in-depth analysis of the sculptural decoration of the façade. Currently, the area of the monastery is the subject of archaeological excavation.

Bibliography
V. Angius, entry “Sassari”, in G. Casalis, Historical and Statistical Geographical Dictionary of the States by H.M. the King of Sardinia, XV, Turin, G. Maspero, 1849, pp. 321-322;
D. Scano, History of Art in Sardinia from the 11th to the 14th Century, Cagliari-Sassari, Montorsi, 1907, pp. 194-200;
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, pp. 157-160; M. Botali, Guide to medieval churches of Sardinia, Sassari, Chiarella, 1978, pp. 155-157;
R. Serra, Sardinia, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 420-422;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the mid-thousand to the early 1300s. Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 34;
G. Dore, Tergu (SS), S. Maria di Tergu, Architectural Decoration, Milan, 1994; R. Coroneo-R. Serra, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Sardinia, series “Italian Artistic Heritage”, Milan, Jaca Book, 2004, pp. 280-282; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia. Cultural tourist itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, pp. 31-32.