Cagliari 331
Back in the La Marina district, archaeological excavations revealed other
important discoveries. Dehumidifying some rooms in the church of Santo
Sepolcro led to the discovery of a kind of pool, made out of a round cut in
the natural rock with three steps going into it, underneath the pavement of
the sacristy (Fig. 12.8). At first it was interpreted as an early Christian bap-
tismal pool,71 but the lack of a contemporary church in the vicinity and
the unknown whereabouts of Cagliari’s first cathedral do not support this
conclusion.72 Rereading Jorge Aleo’s book, Storia cronologica di Sardegna
(1637–1672), it seems that in his time he could still see the ruins of a church
near the site pool. This is very interesting information, because it is possible to
establish that it was connected with an ancient church.73
71 Martorelli, Mureddu, Pinna, and Sanna, “Nuovi dati sulla topografia di Cagliari,”
pp. 395–397.
72 Ibid., pp. 397–398; Martorelli, “Culti e riti a Cagliari in età bizantina,” p. 230; Lucia Mura,
“Considerazioni sulla sede episcopale di Cagliari in età altomedievale tra S. Cecilia e
S. Maria di Cluso,” Theologica & Historica. Annali della Pontificia Facoltà Teologica della
Sardegna 19 (2010), pp. 333–358.
73 Martorelli, “Possibili indizi per l’ubicazione della cattedrale paleocristiana di Cagliari.”
Figure 12.8 Cagliari, the church of S. Sepolcro, the pool.
photo: author.