Santu Lusorgu, Church of San Leonardo

The church of San Leonardo is located in an area rich in woods on the slopes of Montiferru, in the area called “of the seven fountains” from the Spanish word “Siete Fuentes” because of the seven springs in the area. The site is a popular tourist destination on Sundays, due to the abundance of water and fresh, healthy air even in the summer season.
The church of San Leonardo best expresses the charm of the medieval monument surrounded by greenery and linked to the ancient relevance to the Order of the Hospitallers of San Giovanni.
In the 'Condaghe di San Nicola di Trullas' (12th-13th century), a 'villa VII funtanas' is mentioned, while in 1341 there was news of an 'ecclesia septem fontium'. A documentary source from 1355 attests to the existence of the San Leonardo hospital of seven fountains, held by the Hospitallers of San Giovanni. We have no sources that attest to the date of its foundation or consecration, much less the different construction phases of the religious building. A first single-aisle room with a semicircular apse could date back to the middle of the 12th century, expanded between the 13th and 14th centuries with the demolition of the N wall and the reconstruction of the apse, which took on the current quadrangular plan.
The building is made of basalt ashlars. The façade is divided horizontally by round arches that separate the lower part with the two portals from the upper part with the gable one. The lower part in turn started from a pilaster. The pilasters surround the sides of the façade: on the right side, traces of probable connecting structures with surrounding buildings remain. The tympanum is crowned with round hanging arches on peducci. The portals are of the architraved and round lunette type. The left portal has an unraised lunette while the right portal has the raised lunette of a tanning. The two portals are not coeval, since their resemblance was wanted by the builders who, however, were unable to mask the chronological gap.
A different solution was adopted for the apse, rebuilt according to the new Gothic trends: square with an arched monophore. It is interesting to note that the monolithic arches are round round with a thin engraved ring, and not pointed as pointed as the Gothic language that dictated the forms of the apsidal monophore would like.

History of studies
The church is mentioned at the beginning of the 20th century by Dionigi Scano. The study of Gino Crudeli dates back to the middle of the century, who, having conducted excavation essays, was able to propose the interpretation of the elevations, distinguishing two building phases. Roberto Coroneo's studies date back to the end of the century, who reviewed the documentary sources on the history of the building and the adjoining hospital.

Bibliography by
D. Scano, History of Art in Sardinia from the 11th to the 14th Century, Cagliari, Sassari, Montorsi, 1907, pp. 315-316;
G. Crudeli, “Church of San Leonardo di Siete Fuentes in the territory of Santu Lusurgu”, in Studi Sardi, X-XI, 1952, pp. 477-490;
R. Delogu, The Architecture of the Middle Ages in Sardinia, Rome, The State Library, 1953, pp. 129, 235-236; R. Coroneo, Romanesque Architecture from the Mid Thousand to the Early '300, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, card 61;
R. Coroneo, Romanesque churches in Sardinia. Tourist-Cultural Itineraries, Cagliari, AV, 2005, pp. 59;
R. Coroneo, “The Church of San Leonardo di Siete Fuentes”, in Santu Lusurgu. From the origins to the “Great War”, edited by G. Mele, Nuoro, Solinas, 2005, pp. 45-58.