DESCRIZIONE:
La chiesa di Santa Croce, conosciuta in Sardegna anche come “Santa Maria del Cimitero” o “Madonna de s’Ena frisca”, emana pura semplicità ed eleganza.
L’edificio potrebbe essere stato edificato in due diversi momenti, tra la fine del XIII secolo e il XIV secolo, per ufficiare i riti in quell’area dove si stava estendendo l’abitato verso piazza Castello.
La struttura originaria in pietra calcarea presenta una facciata con archetti a sesto acuto e decorazioni eleganti.
Successivi interventi hanno aggiunto un transetto, finestre a sesto acuto, cappelle, una sagrestia e una torre campanaria.
NARRAZIONE:In spite of the strong presence of Romanesque architecture in Sardinia, the beauty of this style never ceases to amaze travellers who come across it, either by intention or by chance.
This is how we feel in the presence of the church of Santa Croce: amazed by its simple beauty.
Also known as ‘Santa Maria del Cimitero’ or ‘Madonna de S’Ena Frisca’ (of the fresh spring), the church of Santa Croce is run by the confraternity of Santa Croce, from which it derives its present name.
Documentary information can be found in the ‘Condàghe di San Pietro di Silki’ (XI-XIII century), but does not provide information on the date of construction of the church, which presumably took place in two distinct moments between the end of the XIII and the XIV centuries.
Its construction probably responded to the need to officiate the rites in the area where the town was expanding, in the direction of Piazza Castello.
Of the original Romanesque church, built in limestone, with a single-nave hall and east-facing apse, all that remains is the façade and parts of the cornice, which continues horizontally on the façade to mark the pediment, and a theory of small arches on corbels.
The transept and the pointed windows belong to the second building phase.
A series of chapels, the sacristy and the bell tower date from later building phases.
The sloping roofs are decorated with a series of narrow, elongated pointed arches, which are also present below the cornice.
Simplicity and purity: this is the memory we will take with us of the church of Santa Croce.
BIBLIOGRAFIA:V. Angius, “Usini”, in G. Casalis, Dizionario geografico storico-statistico-commerciale degli Stati di S.M. il Re di Sardegna, XXIII, Torino, G. Maspero, 1853, p. 435;
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, Amministrazione provinciale di Nuoro, 1990, pp. 250-254;
G. Sanna, Usini. Ricostruzione storico-descrittiva di un villaggio del Logudoro, Ozieri, 1992, p. 95, pp. 106-110;
R. Coroneo, Chiese romaniche della Sardegna. Itinerari turistico-culturali, Cagliari, AV, 2005, p. 27.
INDIRIZZO:Chiesa Santa Croce, Usini, SS, Italia MAPPA:Array