VIVA - New Active Tourism Itineraries in Villanova

The building is now the result of different restoration works operated in different periods, which have altered the original appearance since the sixteenth century. They adopted the ground-plan characterised by a single aisle with side chapels and a rectangular presbytery, which was quite widespread all over Sardinia. Next to the church is the octagonal belfry laid on a quadrangular base.

The belfry stands out for the valuable quality of its appearance, typical of the Gothic Iberian style, characterised by jutting cornices and created with carefully squared and well-positioned blocks.

The façade presents the same standards of organization of space used for the Shrine of Nostra Signora of Bonu Ighino, even if in a lower scale. Rows of juxtaposed ribbed pilasters vertically divide the façade, in contrast with horizontal jutting cornices which delineate the overlapping sections. The pilasters of the lower section are set on high plinths and end with capitals having the shape of a truncated pyramid, which in the two dimensions, recall the same decorative motifs of the façade of the Shrine of Bonu Ighinu. It is possible to see a portal characterised by a round arch opening between two thin vertical ribbed supports ending with decorated capitals. Aligned with the entrance portal, a window opens towards the central mirror. The façade is topped by a sloping roof.

The interior is characterised by a single aisle divided by diagonal arcades. The side chapels are located within the perimeter walls and contain wooden polychromed altars. The presbytery houses a large altarpiece painted on wooden boards assembled together, dating back to the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century. Many simulacra are preserved inside the church and can be dated back to the eighteenth century as works carried out by the artist Francesco Massa.