DESCRIZIONE:
La chiesa di Santa Maria, parte della “villa” medievale di Sibiola è documentata fin dal 1215.
Le sue caratteristiche architettoniche rivelano una chiara influenza della chiesa di San Saturnino di Cagliari (1089-1119).
L’edificio è ben conservato e presenta una pianta a doppia navata.
La muratura interna è in arenaria.
La facciata è quadrata, circoscritta da pilastri d’angolo.
Nove archetti pensili a tutto sesto – che poggiano su elementi murari decorati (peducci) – segnano il prospetto.
E altri archetti archetti pensili proseguono lungo i fianchi.
È ancora visibile una piccola scala esterna che consentiva l’accesso al campanile a vela di cui restano solo i conci di base
NARRAZIONE:One of the elements that characterises the world of Romanesque churches, is undoubtedly the infinite play of stylistic mirrors and thematic cross-references, that transforms the whole of Sardinian Romanesque structures into a veritable pulsating and coherent architectural organism.
The church of Santa Maria, belonging to the medieval village of Sibiòla, registered from 1215 to the end of the 16th century, belonging to the curatorìa of Dolia and belonging to the giudicato of Cagliari, is a clear testimony of this.
The oldest attestation of the church’s title appears in the last inventory, dating back to 1338, regarding the property owned in Sardinia by the Vittorini of Marseille.
The structure, with a double-nave plan, is one of the best preserved in Sardinia.
The two naves are unequal, the largest being the south, and are divided by four arches on low pillars with capitals.
Both naves are covered with a barrel vault, punctuated by sub-arches, which are a precious dating element: in fact, they can be compared to those present in the church of San Saturnino in Cagliari (1089-1119), which was an inspiring model for the construction of several Sardinian churches by the workers in the service of the Vittorini family.
While the internal masonry is made of sandstone cantons, the external masonry has sub-square cantonments on the sides and in the apses, and rows of squared ashlars on the façade, between which are ashlars of various colours and the housing for the ceramic basins, now lost except for one fragment.
Worthy of note, is the geometric solution followed for the rectangular arrangement of the cavities in the upper part of the façade.
In the centre of the façade, we note the presence of an ashlar with grooves for tarsìe, now restored, which presents a radiating circle.
The façade is square, circumscribed by corner pilasters; the sloping roof and the bell gable, of which only the base ashlars remain, have been lost.
A small external staircase, built on the left side of the bell tower, allowed access.
Nine rounded hanging arches resting on decorated corbels mark the façade, and continue along the sides with more hanging arches.
Having paid our respects to this beautiful building, we can now resume our walk, ready for the next encounter.
BIBLIOGRAFIA:Stati di S.M. il Re di Sardegna, XVIII, Torino, G. Maspero, 1849, p. 885;
D. Scano, Storia dell’arte in Sardegna dal XI al XIV secolo, Cagliari-Sassari, Montorsi, 1907, pp. 74, 330;
R. Delogu, L’architettura del Medioevo in Sardegna, Roma, La Libreria dello Stato, 1953, pp. 59-61;
A. Boscolo, L’abbazia di San Vittore, Pisa e la Sardegna, Padova, CEDAM, 1958, p. 141;
F. Segni Pulvirenti, ”Santa Maria di Sibiola in agro di Serdiana: un paesaggio una architettura”, in Serdiana. Santa Maria di Sibiola, Dolianova, s.d., pp. 23, 25.
R. Serra, La Sardegna, collana ”Italia romanica”, Milano, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 340-342;
R. Coroneo, Architettura romanica dalla metà del Mille al primo ‘300, collana ”Storia dell’arte in Sardegna”, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sch. 67;
R. Coroneo-R. Serra, Sardegna preromanica e romanica, collana ”Patrimonio artistico italiano”, Milano, Jaca Book, 2004, pp. 254-255;
R. Coroneo, Chiese romaniche della Sardegna. Itinerari turistico culturali, Cagliari, AV, 2005, pp. 87-88.