Parish Church of Saints Cyricus and Julitta

The Church of Saints Cyricus and Julitta is in the historic centre of Cargeghe, in via Roma, the village’s main road. The earliest historical records of it are from the second half of the 16th century. According to a few researchers, there seems to be a previous Romanesque plan at the base of the bell tower, even though the building underwent many changes until half of the 20th century. The church stands on an area previously used as a necropolis in Roman times, occupying what was the highest part of the built-up area of the town. The main façade has a Late Baroque curvilinear structure on its upper part, but its present shape probably dates back to the end of the XVIII century. The bell tower was substituted at the end of the 1800s after a collapse due to lightning and only the base of the original one remains. The building has only one nave, with a semi-circular apse oriented towards the east, overlooked by three chapels per side: the first on the left side contains the Baptismal font and is the lateral entrance to the temple now. The most ancient chapels keep their original characteristic vault structure, that of the transept and those facing the right side. The lateral chapels display Late Gothic decorations, while the altars once made of wood and now made of marble, are of later periods. Inside the church one can admire prestigious works of art: paintings dating from the 16th century to the first half of the 20th century, such as the altarpiece, representing “Title-holders with instruments of torture”, a work by Costantino Spada, a young painter from Sassari. The most important painting is a piece of work from the end of the 1500s by maestro Baccio Gorini: it represents the Holy Family with Saint John and is mentioned by all the visitors during the 19th century, such as Lamarmora, Valery and Spano, who remembers the worshipers great devotion to the Virgin Mary “Nosthra Segnora de sos isconsolados” (Our Lady of the Abandoned). The statue of the Patrons is of particular interest, ascribable to the Neapolitan school of the XVIII century, which is covered by precious ornaments on the occasion of the feast, celebrated every year on 15th July.
The historic parish archive keeps precious documents about the religious and civil life of the community of Cargeghe, as well as other liturgical and devotional books, from the 1500s to the end of the 19th century.