Subjects
Subjects
Ussana, the agricultural center of Cagliari's Campidano, is an area of fertile land, characterized by small hills. In the territory there was a Roman thermal building, of which ruins exist, testifying to the existence of a nearby village. In medieval times, the “villa” was part of the Cagliari court and was dependent on the curatorship of Dolia, which occupied a vast territory north of the Campidano of Cagliari. The toponym Usana has been registered since the 14th century. The church of San Saturnino is located on an N-shaped hill of the current town, from which it is not far.
The church reveals the dedication to the Cagliari martyr Saturnino in the local denomination of “Santu Sadurru”. It is mentioned for the first time in a manuscript from 1581, where it appears that it was the ancient parish church.
The Romanesque building is made of sedimentary stones of various sizes: cantons in the corners of the walls and in the remaining parts cantonetti and shapeless stones. The structure, with two naves with apses facing N/E, each with a curved portal, can be assigned to the first quarter of the 12th century.
The two naves are divided by four irregular limestone arches, which rest on three columns with bare capitals: the stems belong to Roman columns and two Corinthian capitals are from the first half of the first century AD. The N aisle is barrel-vaulted, with undercuts on shelves.
In the 13th century, following the collapse of the S vault made of stone, the building was subject to several interventions: the N/E wall was reinforced, the S/O wall was rebuilt and the collapsed vault was replaced with a lighter wooden one. In the 18th century, the liturgical axis was reversed, the apses were eliminated and the O-shaped altar was arranged; as a result, the back of the church was transformed into a façade.
A document kept in the archives of the Superintendence shows that in 1917 the church was intended to house prisoners of war. In 1972, restoration work began.
History of studies
The church was studied by Renata Serra, who rejects proposals to date back to the early Middle Ages and ascribes the monument to the Romanesque. Roberto Coroneo assigned the plant to the first quarter of the 12th century and the renovations carried out following the collapse of the vault in the second half of the 13th century.
Bibliography
V. Angius, entry “Ussana”, in G. Casalis, Historical and Statistical-Commercial Geographical Dictionary of the States of His Excellency the King of Sardinia, XXIII, Turin, G. Maspero, 1853, p. 440;
A. Taramelli, “Ussana - Discoveries of tombs of uncertain age in the territory of the Municipality, region of Salomea”, in News of the Excavations, 1906, pp. 57-58;
P. Piga Serra, “Contributions to the study of two-aisle churches in Sardinia, The Church of S. Saturnino di Ussana (Cagliari)”, in Proceedings of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Cagliari, n. 8, 1980, pp. 353-369;
O. Lilliu, The Church of S. Saturnino in Ussana: research and restorations, Quartu Sant'Elena, 1984, pp. 7-63;
R. Serra, Sardinia, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 343-344;
G. Nieddu, The architectural decoration of Roman Sardinia, Oristano, S'Alvure, 1992, sch. 47-48;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque architecture from the middle of the thousand to the early '300, Nuoro, Ilisoro, 1993, page 69; Ussana, edited by R. Copez, Cagliari, Janus, 1997 (II ed. 1999), pp. 11, 17, 59-60;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia. Cultural tourist itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 87.
How to get there
Leave the SS 131 at the height of Monastir, to take the SS 466 to Ussana, where the church stands.
Content type:
Religious architecture
Province: Sud Sardegna
Common: Ussana
Macro Territorial Area: South Sardinia
POSTAL CODE: 09020
Address: via S. Saturnino, s.n.c.
Update
Where is it
Images
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Whatsapp
Print
E-mail
![[Cagliari. Chiesa San Saturnino]](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=)
Comments