Santa Maria, Uta
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Santa Maria is a medieval church in the ''
comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' of
Uta, Sardinia Uta (), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari in the Italian region of Sardinia, located about northwest of Cagliari. It has 8,914 inhabitants. The main attraction is the Romanesque church of Santa Maria. In the are ...
, Italy. The exact date of construction is unknown, although it is generally assigned to the mid-12th century by monks from the Abbey of St. Victor in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, perhaps on the ruins of a pre-existing structure. It is an example of
Provençal Provençal may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Provence, a region of France ** Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France ** ''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language * Provenca ...
and Tuscan Romanesque styles' influence on the local medieval architecture (at the time the area was under the influence of the
Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...
). The oldest known mention of the church is in a 1363 document, by which king
Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV (Catalan: ''Pere IV d'Aragó;'' Aragonese; ''Pero IV d'Aragón;'' 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''El Cerimoniós''; Aragonese: ''el Ceremonioso''), was from 1336 until his death the king of ...
switched it from the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
to the Order of Sant Jordi d'Alfama. The edifice was later held by the
Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...
, who, in the late 16th century, gave it to the
archdiocese of Cagliari The Archdiocese of Cagliari (; ) is a Latin Church, Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church centred on the city of Cagliari. It holds the Primate (bishop), Primacy of Sardinia.sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
, with parts in marble and basalt. The walls feature
pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
s at the corners, and are divided by
lesene A lesene, also called a pilaster strip, is an architectural term for a narrow, low-relief vertical pillar on a wall. It resembles a pilaster, but does not have a base or capital. It is typical in Lombardic and Rijnlandish architectural building ...
s among which are
Lombard bands 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 ...
(triple in the façade and double at the sides and in the apse area). The Lombard bands are characterized by bases with various sculptures of human and animal figures. The main façade, pointing westwards, has a flat central bell tower and is divided into four levels by frames. The lower part is in turn divided into three sections: the middle one houses the portal, which is surmounted by a rounded arch in two colors and a finely sculpted motif in the frame. The upper section has a small double mullioned window. The church has a nave and two aisles with wooden ceilings, separated by round arches; these are supported by columns from older Roman edifices. The capitals are instead contemporary of the church, aside from two (including one acting as
holy water font A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Angli ...
). The presbytery is elevated and accessed by two steps. Under the
high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
are two sculpted lions, which were originally placed at the sides of the façade. The presbytery ends in a semicircular apse. Light is provided by two double
mullioned window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...
s in the eastern and western walls and by single mullioned windows in the main walls and the apse.


Sources

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External links


Official website
{{coord, 39.2863, 8.9699, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Romanesque architecture in Sardinia Maria Uta 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy