Sestu, Church of San Gemiliano

The church of San Gemiliano is located in an area anthropized already in the Eneolithic age, as evidenced by the remains of a prehistoric settlement. In 1316-22, news of a “villa Susue” was recorded. The church is a destination for uninterrupted devotion to the present day, especially on the occasion of country festivities. Today, the area is equipped as a garden but it still has, although restored, the walls of “cumbessias”, typical lodgings for the faithful, pilgrims and novenants.
The church of San Gemiliano stands out for its significant size compared to other rural sanctuaries in Southern Sardinia. They derive from the addition of two buildings of different ages: a Romanesque church with two naves and a vast porch with three naves, erected in the 16th century based on the project, which remained unfinished, to expand the place of worship.
The Romanesque building, named after San Mamiliano, dates back to the 13th century. Inside, the church is divided into two naves, both with an E-shaped apse, by three pillars that support the barrel vaults that carry the weight of the roof along double arches. The walls are made of limestone. This material, typical of Campidano, has a porous structure, very easy to work with, but it does not withstand atmospheric agents. This explains the signs of erosion in all external parts of the church. The entire perimeter of the building is based on a shoe-like plinth and is crowned by pointed arches often lobed at the top and set on elongated floors.
In the façade there are two portals of different sizes but of the same type, arched and rounded bezel. On the capitals of the portal s. (larger than D.) you can see the chisel pattern with which floral motifs have been created, palm leaves with a curved top marked by spike patterns and rosettes with nine lanceolate and furrowed petals.
Along the S side you can find the third of the four portals of the Romanesque church, also arched and rounded lunette. The bases are molded and shaped while the capitals are decorated with simplified palm leaves compared to those on the façade. But the real difference between the S portal and the façade portals is represented by the eyebrow that crowns the bezel and is set on two floors decorated with spike patterns. Only from the inside can you see the fourth portal, which opened along the N side just beyond the middle of the building. Still along the S side, the accordion pilasters divide the masonry into mirrors.
On the E side, the larger apse is placed N-shaped, in line with the main portal; the other is visibly smaller. In the center of the apses, a single-light window opens with a round curtain and a fretboard with smooth rattles. The main apse started in three mirrors from pilaster to accordion.

History of studies
The church was analyzed during the 20th century by Dionigi Scano and Raffaello Delogu; in-depth studies came from Renata Serra and Roberto Coroneo, who confirmed their subscription to the workers trained at the construction site of the cathedral of San Pantaleo in Dolianova.

Bibliography
D. Scano, History of Art in Sardinia from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century, Cagliari-Sassari, Montorsi, 1907, pp. 330;
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, pp. 188-189; R. Serra, La Sardegna, series “Romanesque Italy”, Milan, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 349;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque architecture from the middle of the thousand to the early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, card 140;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque churches of Sardinia. Tourist-cultural itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 96.