Church of the Holy Cross

The Church of the Holy Cross is found in the north-eastern part of the inhabited area of Florinas, in Piazza Santa Croce (the Holy Cross square). The Confraternity of Prayer and Death had it built in the 17th century. The construction work ended in 1691, as attested by the date carved into a tile above the side entrance of the building. The walls in limestone ashlars show an attic with three openings, underlined by two stringcourses, over which there is an arch gable end with a little cross on the top. The entrance portal has an architrave carved with bas-reliefs of acanthus leaf twirls. Above the architrave with frieze there is a cross included in the triangular gable. The building was renovated in the 80s by the “Soprintendenza ai Beni Ambientali, Architettonici, Artistici e Storici”, the Public Organisation that governs Environmental, Architectural, Artistic and Historical Heritage. This intervention restored the church’s integrity, especially thanks to work on its altars. The main altar is a wooden retable (tn* an ornamental screen-like structure above and behind an altar, especially one used as a setting for a religious picture or carving) from the beginning of the 1600s, with paintings made by the Florentine painter Baccio Gorini. Another wooden altar, of Late Baroque style, is found in the second chapel on the right. Its niche was specifically carved to hold an eighteenth-century cross. Of particular interest is a silk banner of Neo-gothic style, depicting a shrine with eclectic ornaments. At the feet of the cross Mary is kneeling with Magdalene on her right, both facing the drapery of the garment and showing sorrowful despair. On the sides are Saint John and Mary of Magdala. Among the ceremonies prior to Easter, in this church, they used to celebrate S’Incontru, (in Sardinian) the Encounter between the statue of Risen Jesus and the Mother in Mourning. During the ritual, the members of the brotherhood wore white gowns, a belt and a hood covering the face. The event was very heart-felt by the whole population, including the nearby towns.

Source: Art in Florinas (in Italian), by Wally Paris