Ittiri
Saint Leonard’s church
Saint Leonard’s church of Cuga is a reconstruction of the old church of Saint Leonard, and was built uphill to avoid being submersed by the Rio Cuga resevoir. Also known as Santu Nenardu de Sa Iddazza or Saint Leonardo of Cuga, the church dates to the second half of the 12th century. It was part of the villa of Cuga or Tuta, along with its annexed monastery. The plan of the building was similar to that of Coros’s church, measuring 13.70 by 6.50 metres. Prior to the relocation, only the façade and the two perimeter walls were still standing, consisting of a double wall of squared stones, with rocky infill material in between. The apse and the vault had completely collapsed. On the outside, the walls had two lancet windows per sideand half pilasters ending with wide blind round arches.
At the moment, the church has a Romanesque longitudinal plan with a semi-circular apse and trussed roof. It was built in limestone and its façade faces west. The sides are decorated with ten great arches supported in pairs by flat half pilasters that rise above a low decorative base. A marble commemorative plaque, now in the church of Saint Leonard in Villanova Monteleone, attests a restoration dating to 1538, made by Bernardo Simon, baron of Ittiri and Uri. In the 1800s, according to Alberto Lamarmora (tn* historian) both the church and monastery were in a state of complete ruin. At the beginning of the 1960s, when the Cuga resevoir project was undertaken, the perimeter walls of the worship building and what remained of the apse were dismounted piece by piece, and reconstructed with a few modifications in the place where it is located now, in order to not end up under the body of water.
Source: “Ittiri, news and images from the past” (in Italian), by Mario Faedda, Gallizzi Editore
Questo lo testimonia una lapide marmorea che prima si trovava nella chiesa di Santa Croce, poi nel cortile della chiesa di San Pietro in Vincoli e della quale si sono perse le tracce. (si riferisce al restauro, quale sarà la verità?) questa frase era su Ittiri notizie e immagini del passato
