Sedini, Church of San Nicola di Silanis

The church of San Nicola is located in the valley of the Silanis river. Reduced to ruins invaded by vegetation, it has recently experienced the collapse of the apse, rebuilt in the last restoration. The site corresponds to a Benedictine monastic settlement, near the abandoned village of Speluncas.
The fascinating ruins of the church of San Nicola, in a lush valley crossed by the Silanis River, stand out in the Sardinian Romanesque landscape for the perfect stone-cutting technique and the particular purity of the architectural forms.
The church has a trenched plan and is built entirely of limestone ashlars cut and built with extreme care. It was built before 1122 by the will of Furatu de Gitil and his wife Susanna de Lacon-Zori, belonging to the aristocratic circle of the kingdom of Torres. In that year the two spouses donated it to the Montecassino Abbey, as an outbuilding of the Abbey of Our Lady of Tergu. The funerary inscription engraved on the façade pertains precisely to members of the Zori family. The factory was probably managed by a Lucchese training teacher. Along with San Pietro di Sorres, it is the only Romanesque Sardinian church that also turned into a cross in the central aisle.
The surviving N-aisle preserves the cross vaults with a separating subarch. The apse is unusually oriented towards N/O. The dividing walls are formed by quadrangular pillars from which the arches rise. On the northern side, an arched door, with a round drain arch, allowed access to the square-barred bell tower, now muted.

History of studies
Raffaello Delogu (1953) dedicated his first historical and artistic study to her. A few years later Salvatore Rattu (1957) published a complete survey, while Alberto Boscolo (1959) analyzes the historical importance of the inscription on the façade. The studies of Renata Serra (1989) and Roberto Coroneo (1993) are the most up-to-date.

Bibliography
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, pp. 95-99;
S. Rattu, “The Church of San Nicola di Silanus (Sassari)”, in Palladio, VII, 1957, pp. 180-185;
A. Boscolo, “The Inscription of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Soliu and the Zori Family”, in Historical Studies in honor of Francesco Loddo Canepa, II, Florence, 1959, pp. 107-118; M. Botteri, Guide to the Medieval Churches of Sardinia, Sassari, Chiarella, 1978, pp. 131-132;
V. Mossa, Architecture and Landscape in Sardinia, Sassari, Carlo Delfino, 1981, p. 111;
R. Serra, Sardinia, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 385-388; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the mid-1000 to the early '300. Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sheet 35;
R. Coroneo-R. Serra, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque Sardinia, series “Italian Artistic Heritage”, Milan, Jaca Book, 2004, pp. 263-266; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Churches of Sardinia. Cultural tourist itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 33.

How to get
there: Take the SP 143, which from Perugas passes through Bulzi and arrives at Sedini. Following a country road, after a few kilometers you reach the church of San Nicola di Silanis, reduced to ruins.