Architecture in Sardinia from the 5th to the 16th Centuries 491
From the mid-fourteenth until the late sixteenth centuries, the parochial
complex of San Giacomo, in the Cagliari section of Villanova, served as the
architectural model for numerous churches that sprung up in Assemini, Sestu,
Settimo San Pietro, Nuraminis, and various other centers of Campidano. All
are defined by a quadrangular presbytery (or capilla mayor) covered with a
cross vault with a pendant at the intersection of its ribs; a succession of open
chapels positioned between the lateral buttresses; and a crenellated square fa-
cade with the typical Gothic rose window. Another element they have in com-
mon is a campanile with a quadrangular tower aligned with their facade on the
left side; inscriptions date the one at San Giacomo in Cagliari to between 1442
and 1448. The monastic complex of the Dominicans in Cagliari was begun in
the first half of the fifteenth century. Destroyed in the aerial bombings of 1943,
Figure 18.11 Cagliari church of Santa Maria a Castello interior,
Pisan chapel.
Photo: R. Martorelli.