NARRAZIONE:
Names are treasure chests of memory.
Discovering them reveals the stories that generated them, offering those who question them the precious opportunity to feel a part of them.
This is what happens if we question the word ‘paùlis’ associated with the name of Nostra Signora, to whom the church is dedicated: this Sardinian term, derived from the Latin ‘paludis’, which was the original place name, still designates many places in Sardinia, a legacy of a long historical phase in which a significant part of the island’s territory was occupied by marshy and unhealthy land.
The Abbey of Nostra Signora di Paulis was created in 1205, following a donation by the King of Torres Comita II to the Cistercian Benedictines, and remained in activity as a monastic community until the 15th century.
Nostra Signora di Paulis was built along the route of a Roman road, later called ‘s’istrada de sos Padres’ because it connected this abbey to the Cistercian abbey of Santa Maria di Corte in the territory of Sindia.
The limestone structure shows clear signs of the work of the Cistercian masters operating in Sardinia between the 12th and 13th centuries.
Of the complex, subject to progressive degradation and restored several times, there are remains of the cloister and some rooms of the convent adjacent to the abbey, visible around the main building.
The crux commissa plan of the church had a nave and two aisles marked by arches on pillars, with a slightly protruding transept.
The square apse and two chapels, one on each side, were grafted onto the transept.
The rooms were covered with barrel vaults.
On the south side of the oriented apse there was a Latin cross window, while on the east side of the choir there was a mullioned window surmounted by a single lancet window (a reference to the Trinity) in which there was a tile with a Greek cross.
We leave this building with regret for the losses that have marked it.
BIBLIOGRAFIA:V. Angius, “Iteri-Cannedu”, in G. Casalis, Dizionario geografico storico-statistico-commerciale degli Stati di S.M. il Re di Sardegna, VIII, Torino, G. Maspero, 1841, pp. 562-568;
V. Angius, “Sassari”, in G. Casalis, Dizionario geografico storico-statistico-commerciale degli Stati di S.M. il Re di Sardegna, XIX, Torino, G. Maspero, 1849, pp. 71-375;
R. Delogu, “Architetture cistercensi della Sardegna”, in Studi Sardi, VIII, 1948, pp. 99-131;
R. Delogu, L’architettura del Medioevo in Sardegna, Roma, La Libreria dello Stato, 1953, pp. 141-143;
G. Zanetti, “I cistercensi in Sardegna, Le abbazie di S. Maria di Corte, di Paulis e di Coros”, in Archivio Storico Sardo di Sassari, II, 1976, pp. 18-20;
R. Serra, La Sardegna, collana “Italia romanica”, Milano, Jaca Book, 1989, pp. 418-419;
M.C. Cannas, “Decorazioni scultoree nelle chiese cistercensi della Sardegna”, in I Cistercensi in Sardegna. Aspetti e problemi di un Ordine monastico benedettino nella Sardegna medioevale, a cura di G. Spiga, Nuoro, Ammnistrazione provinciale di Nuoro, 1990, pp. 245-277;
A. Casula, “Testimonianze dell’architettura cistercense nella Sardegna settentrionale”, in I Cistercensi in Sardegna. Aspetti e problemi di un Ordine monastico benedettino nella Sardegna medioevale, a cura di G. Spiga, Nuoro, Amministrazione provinciale di Nuoro, 1990, pp. 223-243; R. Coroneo, Architettura romanica dalla metà del Mille al primo ‘300, collana “Storia dell’arte in Sardegna”, Nuoro, Ilisso, 1993, sch. 59;
R. Coroneo, Chiese romaniche della Sardegna. Itinerari turistico-culturali, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 28.