Chiesa di San Nicola di Trullas

The Church of San Nicola di Trullas stands in the countryside on the Campeda plateau, above a Roman-period villa. Built by the Athen family before 1113 and donated to the Camaldolese, it is a notable Romanesque monument of the Meilogu region.

Why it matters

The church and its former monastery are closely connected with the Condaghe di San Nicola di Trullas, a record of the priory's lands and dealings in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The site brings together standing architecture and documentary evidence for medieval Sardinia.

What to notice

The gabled facade is divided by a cornice. Above the portal, a false loggia has small arches carried on colonnettes; round sockets in the masonry once held glazed ceramic bowls, or bacini. Inside, a single hall is divided into two square bays with cross vaults. Early-thirteenth-century frescoes include Christ among the apostles, the twenty-four elders adoring the Mystic Lamb and an angelic court. Low foundations to the south outline the former monastery's square cloister and central well.

Context and history

The church was built on a site with a Roman villa and an earlier settlement. In 1113 the Athen family donated the church to the Camaldolese, who established a priory there. The surviving condaghe records the monastery's economic life. After the monastery declined, the church continued as a rural sanctuary.