The XVIII church dedicated to Sant’Andrea stands in the historical centre of Tortolì and is the parish church. From 1824 to 1927 it was the cathedral of the Diocese of Ogliastra (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - Detail of the main facade of the church of S. Andrea (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

Some documents dated XIV century say that the place the monument stands on already housed a church dedicated to S. Andrea, positioned to the left of the current one.

Building on the new church began in the last decades of the XVIII century and ended around 1790.

The building, in a classical style, has a Latin cross plant, with a central body and three naves and an octagonal dome at the transept crossing (figs. 2-3).

Fig. 2 - The church of S. Andrea seen from the outside (photo M.G. Arru).

Three doors and three large rectangular windows open in the facade; on the top you have a pediment with a double curvature. The bell tower rises on the left side of the building.

The presbytery, raised above the chamber floor (fig. 3), holds the main altar in polychrome marble and the central niche with the wooden statue of S. Andrea, dated to the XVIII century. The wooden Choir, in walnut, stands behind the altar.

Fig. 3 - The interior of the church of S. Andrea (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

One of the church's oldest parts is the Baptistery chapel (XVI century), situated at the base of the bell tower, where the baptismal font is a marble, XVIII century basin sustained by an inlaid wood shrine (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - Church of S. Andrea, the chapel with baptistery (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

The crypt, under the presbytery, contains the graves of some of the bishops of Ogliastra. Since 2010, the remains of Mons. Emanuele Virgilio have been kept in a sarcophagus in the church's right-hand nave.