The church dedicated to San Nicola (fig. 1) was built in the “Romanesque” style with limestone ashlars and trachyte inserts and was constituted by the proximity of two cubes on which the apse stands, to the east (fig. 2).

Fig. 1 - The façade of the church of S. Nicola di Trullas (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

Fig. 2 - The church apse (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

Internally the church has two cross vault bays, separated by a sub-arch (fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - The cross vault of one of the bays (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

The external walls were not plastered and characterised by the presence of six single-light windows, each with its own characteristics (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - The church seen from the northwest (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

The church building (built before 1113, when it was donated by the Athen family to Camaldolese monks) and the monastery (built after the structure of the church), were a full part of the development of Romanesque architecture, that flourished in Sardinia between the mid 11th century and the end of the 13th century (fig. 5). In particular, the church of San Nicola di Trullas found its architectural model in the not-distant church of Santa Maria del Regno ad Ardara, a palatine chapel for the judges of Torres, which had characteristics of the Romanesque architecture of Pisa from the era prior to the building of the Duomo di Pisa.

Fig. 5 - Reconstructive hypothesis of the church and the monastery (visual by Unicity S.p.A.).