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Cagliari, Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Cagliari, Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Cagliari, Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located in the upper part of the Marina district. Documentary sources on its origins are scarce, but the archaeological pre-existence that has come to light below the sacristy describe a sacred area of very ancient origin, witnessed in particular by a circular baptismal basin, datable to late antiquity. The first certain attestation of the existence of the church dates back to 1519. In 1564 it was entrusted by Archbishop Antonio Parragues de Castillejo to the newly established archconfraternity of the Most Holy Crucifix of Prayer and Death, a pious association that governed the church until the middle of the 20th century and whose main purpose was to bury indigent people. Attached to the sacred building was a cemetery, which remained in use until the first decades of the 19th century. After 1564, the church was completely rebuilt, taking on the dimensions and shapes still appreciable today: the first phase, still late Gothic, dates back to the square presbytery, covered by a large five-key star vault, built starting in 1587. The layout of the numerous side chapels that flank the single nave, now embellished with rich wooden and marble furnishings dating back to the 18th century, can also be traced back to the last quarter of the 16th century and the early 17th century. The construction of the new façade on the square in 1899 redefined the entire south side of the building and put in the background the original main façade of the church, now visible on the side alley, characterized by a large circular oculus and the classicistic portal of seventeenth-century style.
On the north side, close to the rock wall, there is the large baroque chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Mercy. It is characterized by the central plan and the impressive octagonal dome and replaced, between 1681 and 1686, a previous domed chapel evidenced by archival sources. The reconstruction of the chapel was designed by the Ligurian master builder Domenico Spotorno and was completed with the financial support of the viceroy of Sardinia Antonio Lopez de Ayala y Velasco, Count of Fuensalida. The large portraits of the viceregal family, by the painter Giuseppe Deris, once hung in the chapel, are now visible in the nearby Museum of the Treasure of Sant'Eulalia. The back wall houses an impressive altarpiece in carved, gilded and polychrome wood, created in the years 1684-1686 by the Majorcan fuster Joan Gabanellas in collaboration with the Neapolitan carver Paolo Spinale and the gilder Bernardo Infante. The central niche houses the fifteenth-century simulacrum of the Virgin of Mercy. At the same time as the factory, under the large octagonal hall, a spacious burial crypt was excavated, which can now be visited, divided into two intercommunicating rooms turned into barrels and characterized by a decoration on the walls that mimic a black funeral drapery.

Bibliography
G. Spano, Guida della città e dintorni di Cagliari, Cagliari, A. Timon, 1861, pp. 217-223.
A. G. Maxia – M. Serreli, L’attività dell’Arciconfraternita della Morte, attraverso i suoi documenti, nella chiesa del Santo Sepolcro in Cagliari nei secoli XVII e XVIII, in T. Kirova (ed.), Arte e Cultura del ‘600 e del ‘700 in Sardegna. Atti del Convegno Nazionale (Cagliari-Sassari, 2-5 maggio 1983), Napoli, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1984, pp. 245-256.
M. Serreli, La “Virgen de la Piedad” della chiesa del Santo Sepolcro in Cagliari, in AA. VV., Cagliari: omaggio ad una città, Oristano, S’Alvure, 1990, pp. 71-80.
S. Naitza, Architettura dal tardo ‘600 al classicismo purista, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1992 (coll.: Storia dell’Arte in Sardegna), pp. 35-36.
M. Dadea – S. Mereu – M. A. Serra, Chiese e arte sacra in Sardegna. Arcidiocesi di Cagliari, tomo I, Sestu, Zonza, 2000, pp. 231-245.
A. Saiu Deidda, La chiesa del Santo Sepolcro a Cagliari fra XVI e XIX secolo, in G. C. Marras (ed.), Lingue, segni, identità nella Sardegna moderna, Roma, Carocci, 2000, pp. 35-68.
F. Virdis, Artisti e artigiani in Sardegna in età spagnola, Villasor, Amministrazione Comunale di Villasor, 2006, pp. 123-125, 282, 423-425.
M. Schirru, I sistemi voltati nelle architetture religiose della Sardegna tra il Cinque ed il Seicento: tecniche costruttive e varianti estetiche, in Lexicon”, 18 (2014), pp. 81-87.
I. Farci, Le chiese della Purissima e del Santo Sepolcro a Cagliari. Nuova datazione su inediti d’archivio, in R. Martorelli (ed.), Itinerando: senza confini dalla preistoria ad oggi. Studi in ricordo di Roberto Coroneo, vol. 3, Perugia, Morlacchi, 2015, pp. 1227-1253.
F. Virdis, Documenti sull’architettura religiosa in Sardegna: Cagliari, vol. I: (1569-1721), Lanusei, L’Ogliastra, 2017, pp. 271-284.
F. Virdis – S. Cuccu, Documenti sull’architettura religiosa in Sardegna: Cagliari, vol. II: (1556-1733), Lanusei, L’Ogliastra, 2018, pp. 460-466.
A. Pasolini – M. Porcu Gaias, Altari barocchi. L’intaglio ligneo in Sardegna dal Rinascimento al Barocco, Perugia, Morlacchi, 2019, pp. 114, 143-144.
N. Settembre, Architettura e arte nella Sardegna meridionale in età moderna: nuovi apporti documentari. Tesi di laurea, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, a.a. 2019-2020, passim.

Structure category: Monument or Monumental Complex

Content type: Religious architecture

Usability: Open

Province: Cagliari

Common: Cagliari

Macro Territorial Area: South Sardinia

POSTAL CODE: 09124

Address: piazza Santo Sepolcro, s.n.c.

Telephone: +39 340 5656797 +39 333 9973797

E-mail: infoeprenotazioni@mutseu.org

Website: www.mutseu.org

January - December

Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Friday - Saturday

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Friday - Saturday

4:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Thursday

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Sunday

4:30 PM - 6:45 PM

Information on tickets and access: For always updated information on access times, it is advisable to consult the dedicated page of the manager's website.

Access mode: A free offer

Services information: For groups that require a guided tour, a reservation is required, it is possible to arrange entry times other than those indicated in the Timetables section.

Update

29/1/2026 - 07:57

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