The Church
Usellus is at the heart of Marmilla, a region known for its hills and its lushing vegetation. The territory has conserved the Romanesque ruins of Santa Reparata church, at the margins of the inhabited centre, in the site of the Roman Colonia Iulia Augusta Uselis. Reconstructed by the 18th century with the reversal of the liturgical axis, it shows some wall face portions on the northern side referring to the Romanesque construction, made in limestone and dating from the mid-12th century.
Description »
Reconstructed by the 18th century with the reversal of the liturgical axis, the church shows some wall face portions on the northern side referring to the Romanesque construction, made in limestone and dating from the mid-12th century.
An analysis of what has been left suggests a three-nave plan with an east-facing apse. The countryside of Usellus also hosts the church of Santa Lucia, referable to the 12th century; single-naved, it has kept its Romanesque façade. Indoors, next to a side entrance, a walled-up, finely decorated stoup of parallelepipedal form is perhaps the reuse of an older artefact, once used for a different purpose.
History »
A bishop of Usellus, Rellu or Murrellu, is mentioned in the Condaghe di Santa Maria di Bonarcado. The prelate took part to the consecration of the church of Santa Maria di Bonarcado in 1146.
Bibliography »
Roberto Coroneo, Architettura romanica dalla metà del mille al primo ‘300, Nuoro, 1993. Roberto Coroneo, Renata Serra, Sardegna preromanica e romanica, collana “Patrimonio artistico italiano”, Milano, 2004.Roberto Coroneo, Chiese romaniche della Sardegna. Itinerari turistico-culturali, Cagliari, 2005.
Location
Apse
Condaghe
Nave/Aisles
