Sassari, Church of San Michele di Plaiano

The church, known as Santu Miali de Li Plani, is located in the town of Buddi-Buddi, now rural, corresponding to the site of an ancient Benedictine monastic settlement.
San Michele di Plaiano stands in a secluded place and keeps its Romanesque left side intact, while the rest of the church has undergone demolitions or restorations that are too heavy, which have erased or altered its original physiognomy.
With a single-bay floor plan covered in wood, it is one of the oldest Romanesque buildings in the Sassari area. The apse has been demolished and a rear building has been placed next to it. Therefore, only the N-side and the façade are visible from the outside. Built in limestone ashlars and “opus spicatum” terracotta interpolations, it has different building phases.
The installation dates back to 1082, when Mariano I de Lacon Gunale, judge of Torres, donated the title to the Opera di Santa Maria in Pisa. To this first building phase belong the walls of the N side with single-light windows with steps and hanging arches, up to the last pilaster towards d..
In 1115, the Opera di Santa Maria di Pisa entrusted the church to the Camaldolese monks of San Zeno, who elected it as an abbey and expanded it towards O. The second building phase goes up the stretch of the N side with an ogival monophore and the reconstruction of the façade. Subsequently, there was a transfer of management to the Vallombrosani in 1127 and finally the abbey was incorporated into the archbishop's canteen of Torres.
The façade is in a single order, divided by the tympanum by means of a frame. At the center of the three blind arches, the arched portal opens, with a drain arch. In the tympanum there is a false loggia, with a mullioned window in line with the portal. In the wall covering, panels decorated with geometric patterns are inserted, intended to be completed with inlay pieces.

History of studies
The church is mentioned by Dionigi Scano (1907). Raffaello Delogu (1953) began the series of the most important studies, including the contributions of Renata Serra (1989), Roberto Coroneo (1993) and Marisa Porcu Gaias (1996).

Bibliography
D. Scano, History of Art in Sardinia from the 11th to the 14th Century, Cagliari-Sassari, Montorsi, 1907, pp. 217-221;
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, pp. 74, 99-100;
M. Botteri, Guide to the Medieval Churches of Sardinia, Sassari, Chiarella, 1978, pp. 127-128; V. Mossa, Architecture and Landscape in Sardinia, Sassari, Carlo Delfino, 1981, p. 107; A. Cesaraccio-V. Mossa, Sassari and her face, Sassari, Carlo Delfino, 1983, p. 258;
R. Serra, Sardinia, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 392-393;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the mid-1000 to the early '300. Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 30;
M. Porcu Gaias, Sassari. Architectural and urban history from its origins to the 17th century, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1996, pp. 33-34; R. Coroneo-R.
Serra, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Sardinia, series “Italian Artistic Heritage”, Milan, Jaca Book, 2004, pp. 271-273; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia. Cultural tourist itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 26.

How to get there
You travel about 8 km from Sassari along the SP 60, heading N until you find the church of San Michele di Plaiano on the roadside.