Nostra Signora di Tergu is a parish church in

Tergu Tergu ( sdc, Tzelgu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about northeast of Sassari in the Anglona historical regiona. It is home to the Romanesque church ...

province of Sassari The province of Sassari ( it, provincia di Sassari, sc, provìntzia de Tàtari, sdc, prubìnzia di Sàssari, ca, província de Sàsser, french: province de Sassari, co, pruvincia di Sassari) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sa ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. One of the most outstanding examples of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

in the island, the church and the remains of the annexed abbey are located in a countryside area outside the village. The construction of the church is attributed to the ''Giudice'' of Torres Marianus I, who reigned from 1065 to 1082. In 1122 it was a possession of the abbey of Montecassino. It is mentioned in the ''Pseudocondaghe of Santa Maria di Tergu'' as having been consecrated in 1117, and built by workers from Pisa and Lombardy. In 1444 the church and the monastery became part of the

archdiocese of Torres The Archdiocese of Sassari ( la, Archidioecesis Turritana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Sardinia, Italy. Its see was initially at Torres. It was elevated to an archdiocese in 1073. Its suffragan sees are the diocese of Algher ...

Overview

The church was built using slabs of red

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and al ...

and of brighter limestone for the decorations. The façade, which is missing the upper part (crumbled down during the centuries) is divided into two levels. The lower one has two corner

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s and two semicolumns supporting two arches with finely decorated

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...

s in limestone. The central portal has an architrave with capitals, also in limestone, sculpted with acanthus motifs. The vegetable motifs are also present in the white frames of the upper level, showing a blind

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

with five arcades, in which are contained unusual geometrical decorations. Also particular are the side columns, having a

zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as ...

pattern. The central arcade houses a small rose window. The exterior sides are characterized by false columns with

Lombard band A Lombard band is a decorative blind arcade, usually located on the exterior of building. It was frequently used during the Romanesque and Gothic periods of Western architecture. It resembles a frieze of arches. Lombard bands are believed to h ...

s. On the northern side is the square, sturdy bell tower. The interior is on the

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

plan, with a nave and a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

. The

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

, with a quadrangular plan, was rebuilt in 1664. To the same age dated the barrel vault of nave, which has been replaced by the current wooden

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es.

References

* {{coord, 40, 52, 16, N, 8, 43, 13, E, type:landmark, display=title Churches in Sardinia 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Romanesque architecture in Sardinia Churches completed in 1117

Overview

See also

References