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Church of San Lussorio

The country church dedicated to San Lussorio (fig. 1) is located in the place of the same name, surrounded by trees and not far from the sea. Tradition has is that the building stands where the ancient town of Tortolì stood before pirate raids forced inhabitants to take refuge inland.

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Fig. 1 - The country church of San Lussorio (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

 

The building, datable to the XVII century, is rectangular in shape, 17.50 metres long, 6.50 wide and 3m high. It has a simple gable roof and, on the outside, buttresses sustaining the chamber's arched structures.

The facade, with the main entrance, is surmounted by a bell-gable holding a small cross (fig. 2).

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Fig. 2 - The main facade of the church of San Lussorio (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

A secondary entrance can be found on the left side (fig. 3).

The interior, with just one chamber, is divided into four bays. The roof, gabled, has a main wooden-beam structure which sustains the wattle and daub covered by bent tiles. The church gets light from two windows opening in the end wall and two openings in the side walls. The floor, laid recently, is earthenware tiles.

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Fig. 3 - The secondary entrance to the church (photo Unicity S.p.A.).


The presbytery (fig. 4) has the main brick altar. On this, in a niche, the polychrome wooden statue of San Priamo. A second altar, in wood, was recently placed in front of the main one.

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Fig. 4 - The church interior with the presbytery area (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

The statue portraying San Lussorio is kept in the church of Sant’Andrea in Tortolì. It is taken from there on the feast day, in the month of August, and carried in a procession to the country church (fig. 5).

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Fig. 5 - The statue of San Lussorio kept in the church of S. Andrea in Tortolì (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

A bell that was once held in the bell-gable (for safety reasons it is only placed in the bell-gable on feast days) comes from the church, now deconsecrated, dedicated to San Sebastiano in Tortolì. Its bas-relief decorations include S. Sebastiano pierced by arrows (fig. 6), the Madonna and Child, the Crucifix and St. George and the dragon.

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Fig. 6 - Detail of the bell coming from the church of San Sebastiano (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

 

Bibliografia

  • M. CLAUSI, I.3.82 Chiesa di San Lussorio, in ARCHEO SYSTEM. I Reperti, Milano 1990, pp. 62-63.
  • F. COCCO, Talana, Tertenia, Tortolì, Triei, Ulassai, Urzulei, Villagrande Strisaili, Villaputzu, in Dati relativi alla storia dei paesi della diocesi d’Ogliastra, II, Cagliari 1986, p. 94, p. 143.
  • CENTRO SARDO DI RICERCHE SOCIO RELIGIOSE (a cura di), Organizzazione della chiesa in Sardegna, Sassari 1971, p. 335.

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