Logudoro-Meilogu rich in proposals also in the cult
From years the monastery of San Pietro di Sorres, not far from Borutta, proposes itself with discretion to the lovers of quiet, spirituality and meditation. The guestrooms, in fact, accommodate people who want to withdraw in prayer and in meditation or to devote to the study of the Bible and to spiritual exercises. An alternative tourism, not of mass, that allows to breath the evocative atmosphere inside of the Romanesque-Pisan basilica, built between the XI and XII century. Raised by using the basalt and the sandstone, that confer the bichrome coloration, it guards in its interior the wooden simulacrum of the Madonna delle Grazie, known also with the name of Regina di Sorres (Queen of Sorres). The Benedictine monastery has been constructed in the XX century, taking inspiration from a medieval style that doesn't go well with the church, from the architectonic point of view.
In Ittiri do not miss visiting the parochial church dedicated to San Pietro in Vincoli. The original structure goes back to the XV century but the facade has been remade in the end of the XIX century. In its inside it is possible to look at the high altar, entirely constructed in wood. Outside the town, in direction of Banari, there is the little church of Maria di Coros (XIII century), recently refurbished after years of abandonment.
In Ardara we suggest visiting the Romanesque church of Santa Maria del Regno, so-called since for a long time it was the privileged chapel of the Judges of Torres. Constructed in dark trachyte (it is not known with certainty the year, it was surely consecrated at the beginning of the XII century), accommodated a Synod (1135) presided by the archbishop of Pisa, Uberto, personality highly thought of by the Holy See. At the foot of the altar, in which the Judges of Torres took an oath, are preserved the mortal remains ones of the Lady Judge Adelasia. The finding of some funeral equipments, let assume that Santa Maria del Regno has been built up in cemeterial area (of the V or VI century A.D.) or on the rests of a previous church. Very beautiful, in its interior, a great polyptyc of the 1500's placed behind the high altar.
In the countrysides of Ploaghe rises the church of San Michele di Salvenero, example of Romanesque style of the XII century. It takes the name from the near medieval village of Salvenor, disappeared in the XVI century. In a bull of the Pope Innocenzo II (1139) is inticated the name of San Michele di Salvenero, in reference to the possession of the abbey of Vallombrosa, in which was included also the church entrusted to Ugone the abbot of that time. Unfortunately, the refurbishing works carried out at the beginning of the 1900's have disfigured the original bichrome facade. Nevertheless, it is at the same time, one of the few examples of building with “croce commissa” plant.
The cathedral of Sant’Antioco di Bisarcio was constructed on the top of a volcanic hill not distant from Ozieri: it is not a negligible detail, since it let appear the church still more majestic sight of the visitors. Different kinds of dark trachyte were employed when, in the XI century, the Judge of Torres, Costantino I de Lacon ordered the construction of this church over the ruins of a previous building destroyed by the fire. The cathedral of Sant’Antioco di Bisarcio was consecrated in 1174. Very interesting the two level porch that, in the opinion of some students, it was constructed in the XIII century.
Only a few kilometers from Siligo, in the countrysides surrounding the community of S’Aspru, there is the little church of Santa Maria di Bubalis, constructed in the IX century near the ruins of late Romanesque thermal baths. It has a bichrome coloration (the red of the clay and the black of the trachyte) and a cross-shaped plant. The central body finishes with a cupola. The building has been restructured a few years ago.
On the top of the Monte Santo (735 meters), in front of Siligo, there is the little church dedicated to the prophet Sant’Elia. Constructed in the XI century by the Cassinesi monks, fro want of the Judge of Torres Barisone: the walls are in part in black trachyte and in part in limestone, while the pavement is in red trachyte. The writer Zella Corona, in her book “Il Quinto Moro” (the fifth Moor), defined it “a sort of primitive altar”. On Easter Monday morning, the church of Sant’Elia hosts hundreds of faithfuls, who come on a pilgrimage from Siligo and the near towns: they climb the mount to renew every year the thanks to Sant' Elia and to Sant' Enoch .
