Description of the attraction
The Basilica of Santissima Trinita di Saccardgia is the most important Romanesque church in Sardinia, located in the commune of Codrongianos in the north of the island. The church is entirely built of local stone - black basalt and white limestone, and is made in the characteristic Tuscan-Romanesque style.
The construction of the basilica at the behest of the judicate of Torres Constantine I (the independent kingdoms in Sardinia in the 10-15 centuries were called judicates) was completed in 1116 on the ruins of a previously existing monastery. The consecration of the new church took place in the same year. It was immediately transferred to the ownership of the monastic order of the Camaldules, who founded the new abbey. According to legend, this is how Constantine I thanked the monks for the hospitality shown to him and his wife during one of their travels around the island. Later, from 1118 to 1120, the church was expanded - a high Pisa-style bell tower was added to it, the main hall was lengthened, the walls were slightly raised and a new facade was erected. The portico of the façade is also probably a later addition, attributed to craftsmen from Lucca. At the end of the 12th century, the central apse was painted with frescoes by an unknown artist, but clearly from central Italy. Today, these frescoes are considered the only example of Romanesque wall painting in Sardinia.
In the 16th century, the church was abandoned and only at the beginning of the 20th century it was restored according to the project of the architect Dionigi Scano and reopened.
