332 Martorelli
In 2007–2008, the area under the left transept in the New Church of Saint
Augustine, which was built in sixteenth century near the earlier medieval
church of San Leonardo, was excavated in the La Marina quarter.74 Some
excavated structures, built with bricks and tiles and covered with white plas-
ter, belonged to an ancient thermal complex used between the third and fifth
centuries AD. After, the rooms of the building were filled and covered by earth
in which many Vandal coins were found. It is interesting to note that after an
event that caused the abandonment of the complex, instead of restoring the
building, other houses were constructed over it. Thus a little tower was built
on top of it in squared stone blocks, marking the foundation of the new town.75
In an eastern suburb, near the entrance of the modern cemetery of Bonaria,
the Soprintendenza Archeologica for the provinces of Cagliari and Oristano
(coordinated by Donatella Mureddu) conducted an archaeological exploration
in 1987. They uncovered part of another ancient cemetery, which was used in
Roman times and then abandoned and used as a dump. Three pits were cru-
cial here, as they contained a lot of domestic pottery (bowls, saucepans, etc.),
together with amphorae. Among this was Painted Ware and Forum Ware that
dated the dumpsite to between the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Some
amphorae were signed with Greek letters, such as ΠΑ and perhaps Πάτερες
(fathers), suggesting that monks may have lived on the site. Documents de-
scribe a church, Santa Maria de portu salis (or de portu gruttis), which, at the
end of the eleventh century, became the property of the Victorine monks com-
ing from the abbey of Saint Victor in Marseilles. The church of Saint Bardilio,
which was located at the entrance of the modern cemetery until its demoli-
tion in 1909, was originally dedicated to Santa Maria de portu salis (or de portu
gruttis) and represents the modern-day incarnation of that foundation.76
Near the waterfront in the same quarter, the remains of the destroyed
nineteenth-century church of Santa Lucia—part of the northern nave and the
seventeenth-century bell tower—show multiple transformations. The original
structure was added to at the beginning of the eleventh century, but accord-
ing to documents the church is much older.77 Under my direction, a team of
74 For the Byzantine period, see Martorelli, “Culti e riti a Cagliari in età bizantina,” p. 226.
The site of Saint Augustine was excavated in the second half of the twentieth century. For
the preliminary report, see Mongiu, “Il quartiere tra mito, archeologia e progetto urbano,”
pp. 19, 21.
75 This information is also unpublished.
76 Mureddu, “Cagliari, area adiacente il cimitero di Bonaria,” pp. 237–241.
77 Martorelli, “Culti e riti a Cagliari in età bizantina,” p. 226; Marco Cadinu, “Il rudere della
chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Marina di Cagliari. Architettura, archeologia e storia dell’arte
per il recupero di un luogo della città medievale,” in Ricerca e confronti. Giornate di stu-
dio di archeologia e storia dell’arte a 20 anni dalla istituzione del Dipartimento di Scienze