Discover Romanesque: Peoples and Legends

Saint Simplicius

Scanty, inconsistent information about San Simplicio’s life is provided by three different sources. The Roman Martyrology mentions him as the bishop of Fausania (the current Olbia, Sassari), who suffered martyrdom under Diocletian’s empire. The Hieronymianum Martyrology  remembers him on the day of celebrations in his honour, limiting information to his mere association with Sardinia. The devotion to the Saint was confirmed in the town of Olbia, where an imposing Romanesque cathedral was built in his honour at the end of the 11th century, entirely made in granite with brickwork insertions.