Our Lady of Patience

The parish Church of Our Lady of Patience is located in Uri, in piazza Vittorio Veneto, also called Carrela ‘e Cheja. The first document that mentions the church is the Condaghe of Saint Peter in Silki (11th-12th century) (tn* a condaghe is a register of the Church’s belongings in Medieval Sardinia). The church is in Late Romanesque style, indicated by architectural traces such as stones cut in different shapes and sizes that were uncovered on the façade during the renovation works in 1998 and 2007-2008. The church has been subject to the Pastoral Visit of the Canon from Porto Torres, Reverend Dom. Agostino Zonquello in March 1553, and by Monsignor Giovanni Pilo in December 1555. (tn* a Canon is a Christian priest with special duties in a cathedral) During the first visit, the church was mentioned as the Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and comprised a main altar with an image showing the Pietà and three lateral altars: one dedicated to Saint Quiricus (from the church of the abandoned village of Giusei), one dedicated to the Holy Cross and one dedicated to Saint Stephen. As we would expect, there was a Baptismal Font and a sacristy. Probably, at the end of the 17th century, the church underwent huge modifications, which gave it the Renaissance shape and style it has today. This work was necessary due to an increase in population from 48 families in 1589 to 116 in 1678, prompting the enlargement of the church to accommodate worshipers. The current title of Our Lady of Patience was written for the first time in the report of the Pastoral Visit on 18th February 1688, by the Archbishop of Sassari Giovanni Morillo-Velarde. From analysis of the Five Parish Registers (tn* handwritten volumes introduced in parishes after the Council of Trento, recording major events such as baptisms, marriages, births, burials and special events), and more precisely from the record of a burials in 1715, the church’s title of Or Lady of Patience was written in full “Parroquia de la Sacralissima Virgen de la Passiencia de la presente villa”. Thanks to the Five Parish Registers, the existence of a nearby cemetery, used until the 19th century, was confirmed as well.

The building has a double pitched façade made of local trachyte ashlars, of different sizes. The bell tower has a square body and a dome covering, originally with the shape of a rooster, which collapsed in 1917 after a tornado. The interior has a single nave with an apse and three chapels per side. The floor is covered with gray marble and includes access to four underground crypts, used until 1840. On the main altar there is a stone slab from the Rector Antonio Maria Figoni Ligios, uncle of the more famous Canon Spano. The current style of the church results from an invasive intervention in the middle of the 20th century, ordered by the then parish priest Giovanni Volpi, who wanted to give the building a Classical aspect. The current plan presumably dates back to the second half of the 18th century, while some structural changes took place towards the middle of the last century. The church’s main celebration is on 12th September with the vespers (tn* liturgy of evening prayer), while the next day the Virgin Mary is honoured with a solemn Mass, followed by a procession through the streets of the village. The simulacrum is carried by the Confraternities, horseback riders and men and women wearing traditional costumes.