Concattedrale di Sant'Antonio Abate

The Co-Cathedral of Sant’Antonio Abate stands on the seaward edge of Castelsardo’s historic ridge. Its Catalan Gothic structure, Renaissance features and majolica-crowned bell tower frame a crypt museum that preserves the treasury of the former Diocese of Ampurias and panels by the Maestro di Castelsardo.

Why it matters

Sant’Antonio Abate became the cathedral of the Diocese of Ampurias when the bishop’s seat moved to Castelsardo in 1503. Its architecture combines Catalan Gothic forms with Renaissance classicism, reflecting the church’s development through the sixteenth century. The building is now a co-cathedral, and its crypt houses the Museum Ampuriensis.

What to notice

The bell tower, cut from an older tower in the town walls, is topped by a dome covered in polychrome majolica. Inside, the single nave has a barrel vault, side chapels and a transept. The chapel of the Virgin includes azulejo tiles and octagonal domes. Jaume Camilla carved the wooden pulpit and choir stalls in 1765. The crypt treasury includes panels by the late-fifteenth-century painter known as the Maestro di Castelsardo.

Context and history

Castelsardo became a bishop’s city in 1503, and the church was enlarged over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It retained the title of co-cathedral after the later reorganisation of the diocese. The Museum Ampuriensis project began with the 1999 exhibition Il Tesoro Segreto. Among its works is the Madonna con angeli musicanti retablo, described by SardegnaCultura as a major work of Sardinian painting of its period.