The building is inside a fenced area in the center of the town, next to the recently restored buildings of the former Monte Granatico.
San Pantaleo di Dolianova is one of the most important medieval churches in Sardinia. In addition to the grandeur of the architecture, the reasons for attraction lie in the rich and exuberant sculptural decoration, both outside and inside, where important works of pictorial art are kept.
The church stands on a site where the Christian presence, dating back to the 5th-6th century, is evidenced by the discovery of a baptismal basin and a pillar dating back to the second half of the tenth century.
The diocese already existed in 1089, when Bishop Vigilius appeared as a witness at the gift of the Cagliari judge Constantine II to the Benedictine monks of Saint Victor of Marseille.
The former cathedral of ancient Dolia was built in three phases between the 12th and 13th centuries and was completed between 1261 and 1289 by workers from the construction site of the church of Santa Maria di Bonarcado. The carved structure, the cruciform pillars and sections of masonry (a phase in which the “magister Bonanus” mentioned in one of the church's inscriptions played an important role) refer to 1170, while the elevation is relevant to the 13th century.
The church (30 x 13 m, about 15 m high) is made of local tuff stone. It has a triangular longitudinal plan with a single S/E apse and wooden roof deriving from a variation of the original design which, given the presence of sturdy pillars, included stone vaults. Next to the façade stands the bell tower.
Corner parasts and pilasters rhythmic a division into mirrors, while theories of semicircular arches are opposed to others interrupted by a lobe. The same variety affects the peducci of tax of the arches, with phytomorphic, anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and fictional subjects, monstrous and geometric figures. The redundant decoration is completed with the lintel of the entrance portal, a reused Roman marble, with snakes among the reeds in relief. Inside, there are the capitals decorated with scenes from the New Testament and the one, now Gothic, with “crochet” leaves.
Also in the classroom are the medieval frescoes of the apse, the one with the “Tree of Life” on its side and the “Altarpiece of San Pantaleo”, built between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century.

History of studies
The former cathedral of Dolianova has been the subject of numerous studies starting from the 19th century, intensified in the 20th century, which saw Giovanni Spano, Carlo Aru and Donatella Salvi investigate its archaeological aspects in relation to the municipal territory, and Raffaello Delogu, Corrado Maltese, Renata Serra, Roberto Coroneo, Maria Cristina Cannas, Lucia Siddi, Elisabetta Borghi and Giacomo Pisano investigate its historical-artistic aspects and numerous restorations.

Bibliography by
G. Spano, “Ancient Cathedral of San Pantaleo”, in Sardinian Archaeological Bulletin, VIII, 1862, pp. 97-104;
C. Aru, “The Church of San Pantaleo in Dolia”, in Proceedings of the Archaeological Conference in Sardinia, Reggio Emilia, Officine Grafica Reggiane, 1927, pp. 151-187;
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, pp. 15-16, 130-132, 184-188; R. Serra, La Sardegna, series “Italia Romanica”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 102-109;

D. Salvi, Archaeological Testimonials, Dolianova, Parteollese Archaeological Association, 1989, p. 9;
M.C. Cannas, “Some aspects of the sculptural decoration of the former Cathedral of San Pantaleo in Dolianova: the bust of the 'judge' of Arborea Mariano II de Bas Serra”, in Middle Ages Essays and Reviews, XVI, 1992, pp. 197-227. ;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque architecture from the middle of the thousand to the early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 95;
M.C. Cannas - L. Siddi-E. Borghi, The Arbor Vitae Fresco in the former Cathedral of San Pantaleo in Dolianova, Cagliari, Pisano Graphic Arts, 1994; M.C. Cannas- L. Siddi-E.
Borghi, The Apsidal Frescos of San Pantaleo in Dolianova, Cagliari, Pisano Graphic Arts, 1997; M.C. Cannas-G.
Pisano, The Apocalypse, now. The Master of the Capital with the Apocalyptic Scene of San Pantaleo by Dolianova, Cagliari, Tam Tam, 2003; R. Coroneo-R.
Serra, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Sardinia, series “Italian artistic heritage”, Milan, Jaca Book, 2004, pp. 211-219; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia.
Cultural tourist itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, pp. 85-87;
A. Pistuddi, “Parish Church of San Pantaleo, Dolianova”, in The Jewels of Religious Architecture. History, restorations and furnishings from the Romanesque to the neoclassical style, Dolianova, Grafica del Parteolla, 2005, pp. 39-55