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CHAPTER 18
Architecture in Sardinia from the Fifth to the
Sixteenth Centuries 1
Roberto Coroneo1 Late Antique Basilicas
In 313 AD, the Edict of Milan, issued by Emperors Constantine and Licinius,
admitted Christianity among the official religions of the Roman Empire, and
paved the way for the creation of the basilica type of Christian architecture.2 A
few rare instances of the domus ecclesiae—a site of Christian worship in a pri-
vate building—are known to have existed earlier. The domus ecclesiae in Dura-
Europos is the best documented of these sites, due to its paintings of biblical
subjects, and is dated to before 257, the year of the city’s destruction.
Before 313, Roman law did not permit Christians to celebrate their rites in
public buildings, let alone to erect structures for that purpose. Even so, late an-
tique basilicas and synagogues served as models for Constantinian churches.
Architects in Constantine’s circle elaborated on the standard typology of the
great fourth-century halls of cultic worship, using elements from their plans
and elevations as the basis: a wooden roof, five aisles divided by rows of col-
umns supporting arches or architraves, preceded by a portico, and terminating
in a transept opening onto a vaulted semicircular apse.
Because of their sheer grandeur, Constantinian churches in Rome, Jerusalem,
Constantinople, and other nerve centers of the empire did not lend themselves
to full-scale reproduction. Within a short time, however, they gave way to build-
ings of more modest size and construction. As early as the fifth century, patrons
and builders reduced the number of aisles from five to three, and relinquished
the portico and transept in all but the most ambitious cases. At the same time,
they introduced other elements: the narthex, two service areas flanking the
apse, and towers. The availability of centrally planned structures provided the
essential architectural vocabulary for mausolea, baptisteries, and churches.
Scholars have produced important specialized studies on late antique archi-
tecture in Sardinia, but few general works of any depth. One exception is Pier
1 Translated by Teddy Jefferson and Irina Oryshkevich.
2 Richard Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture (Baltimore, 1965).