Subjects
Subjects
The area is located below the seventeenth-century church dedicated to Saint Lucifer, in the homonymous street.
In a period before the 4th century AD, the area around the Basilica of San Saturnino was affected by the construction of particularly elaborate funerary buildings, characterized by the presence of arcosols in the walls and simple pits in the floors, and used for numerous burials.
In 1615, in the wake of research into the “holy bodies”, some of these cubicles were identified and it was believed that in one of them was the tomb of Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, defender of orthodoxy and intransigent opponent of the Arians, who lived in the 4th century.
Even at the time of its discovery, very little remained of the walls of the building (in “opus vittatum”), so it was completely rebuilt following the perimeter wall, which encloses a rectangular room with an O-shaped apse, exactly below the presbytery of the new church dedicated to the saint.
A narrow passage leads to the room where, during seventeenth-century research, the supposed relics of Saints Rude and Eliano were found: square in shape, it has another smaller room on the O side, and is entirely built of bricks. The vault was originally supported by two pairs of pillars, while the one currently visible, built in the seventeenth century, has a single span with a lowered sixth.
Through a passage in the north wall, you can access the first room, discovered and investigated in the seventeenth century, then forgotten and accidentally rediscovered in the years 1947-48. Only the S wall remains visible, where four arcosols open. The construction technique is similar to that of the compartment of Saints Rude and Eliano, from which it differs only in size.
Near the entrance to the smaller burial chamber, a tomb covered with a mosaic mound and engraved with an inscription, was erroneously attributed to Saint Lussorio martyr. From the reading of seventeenth-century sources, it can be seen that these burial environments could have been used until about the 6th-7th century.
The alleged relics of Saint Lucifer and the two tombstones found on his grave are kept in the chapel dedicated to him inside the crypt of the martyrs of the Cathedral of Cagliari.
History of excavations
The excavation work began in 1615, while the church was built between 1646 and 1682. The excavations were conducted by A. Marcello in 1875 and 1876. In 1937, the crypt was rediscovered; other excavations were carried out in the years 1947-48.
Bibliography
G. Spano, Guide to the City and Surrounding Areas of Cagliari, Cagliari, A. Timon, 1861, pp. 290-294;
G. Stefani, “The Church of Saint Lucifer”, in D. Mureddu-D. Salvi-G. Stefani, Sancti Innumerabiles, Oristano, S'Alvure, 1988, pp. 29-42; D. Mureddu-D.
Salvi-G. Stefani, “Some Cagliari funerary contexts through the chronicles of the seventeenth century”, in Burials in Sardinia from the 4th to the 7th century. Proceedings of the IV Conference on Late Roman and Medieval Archaeology, Oristano, S'Alvure, 1990, pp. 179-206;
A. Piseddu, Archbishop Francesco Desquivel and the search for the relics of Cagliari's martyrs in the 17th century, Cagliari, 1997, pp. 125-140; M. Dadea, “The funerary cubicles under the church of San Lucifer”, in M. Dadea-S. Mereu-M.A. Serra, The Diocese of Cagliari, series “Churches and Sacred Art in Sardinia”, Cagliari, Zonza, 2000, pp. 215-216.
How to get there
Take Via Roma in the direction of Colle di Bonaria. At the traffic light at the height of the Hotel Mediterraneo, turn south to Viale Cimitero in the N direction and, after passing the Basilica of San Saturnino, turn south into Via San Lucifero. The rooms under the homonymous church can be visited on request.
Content type:
Archaeological complex
Archaeology
Usability: unmanaged site
POSTAL CODE: 09125
Address: via San Lucifero, s.n.c.
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