Gavoi, Church of San Gavino

The church of San Gavino is located on a hill in the historic center of the town, of which it is the parish church.
The parish church of Gavoi follows the type of the Gothic-Catalan church. Both the central aisle and the three side chapels have an ogival vault, with ribs in red vulcanite, like other churches in the area (Our Lady of Carmel or the parish church of Fonni). In 1932, work was carried out to restore and clean the structure, removing the lime plaster from the medallions of the keystones and recovering important reliefs. The choir's vault is starry, also marked by ribs in red vulcanite and characterized by five medallions, corresponding to the keystones. In the reliefs, the figures of Saints Protus, Gavino and Januarius, and the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul appear.
In the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the relief medallion there is an elegant rosette surrounded by plant motifs, while in the chapel of San Sebastiano, the same motif of the rosette appears but enriched with acanthus leaves. In the chapel of Sant'Antonio, the medallion has the figure of the Saint sculpted, while in that of the Crucifix there is a cross with floral motifs.
The medallion of the chapel dedicated to Saint Francis is degraded, but there you can read the letters “D.B.M.”, whose meaning is unknown: it is unknown if the reference could be to the Saint or to a zealous parish priest. The following epigraph is engraved in the chapel of the Virgin of Carmel: “Ano IDQQ R. LAY”, that is, “Year 1555 Rev. Lai Vicar”: it is thus possible to ascertain the date of construction and to know the name of the parish priest of the time. Another inscription is found in the chapel of San Francesco Saverio and even in this case we have a date and a name: “Opus ARDOREC QoESADAY/Conclu (s) um anno 1695", which translated says that this work, begun by the Reverend Doctor Rector Quesada, was completed in the year 1695. Following archival research, it was ascertained that the rector Quesada was pastor of Gavoi from 1686 to 1692, the year in which he was promoted to canon of the Metropolitan of Oristano. The next parish priest, Don Lai, in the inscription gives credit to his predecessor. Two important works preserved in the parish church are linked to the name of Reverend Lai: the baptistery and the pulpit.
In the façade of the church, there is a large rose window in red vulcanite, 3 m in diameter, of the Gothic-Catalan type, while the architraved portal is of baroque style.
The quadrangular bell tower, tall and solid, in the upper order, is characterized by Gothic arches. The fairing that crowned it was rebuilt at an unknown time after a collapse. The slight inclination to the east is perhaps due to a subsidence of the ground.

History of studies
The church is the subject of a brief fact sheet in the volume by Francesca Segni Pulvirenti and Aldo Sari on late Gothic and Renaissance architecture (1994)

Bibliography
F. Segni Pulvirenti - A. Sari, Late Gothic and Renaissance Architecture. Nuoro, Ilisso, 1994, file 75;
S. Cossu, A Shepherd, a Village, a Story, edited by Fr. Cualbu, Gavoi, 2000.