The parish church of Cuglieri stands in a singularly panoramic position at the ridge of the Bardosu hill, around which one of the historic cores of the town is arranged. The outline of the distinctive neo-Gothic facade, built in 1913 to a design by Cav. Roberto Sanna distinguishes the view even from a distance, further qualifying the amenity of the natural surroundings.
Although dating back to the 18th century in terms of what concerns the reformulation of the interior according to the dictates of the Piedmontese baroque, much older is the foundation of the church, linked to the veneration of a 14th-century painted stone statue of the Virgin located in the niche of the high altar, which tradition has it that it miraculously arrived on the beaches of St. Catherine of Pittinuri and was solemnly crowned by Vatican decree in 1893.
Erected into an Insigne Collegiate Church in 1807, it obtained the title of Basilica Romana Minore in 1919. Its most valuable furnishings date back to the 19th century (a canvas by painter Giovanni Marghinotti and the marble altar by Domenico Franco, who was also the architect of the dome), but the acquisition of works of art of considerable importance continued again in the first half of the 20th century, especially through the initiative of archpriest Antonio Giuseppe Angotzi (1859-1947).
Among the ‘presences’ to be noted inside are the altar that holds the relics of St. Imbenia, some wooden statues from the 17th century, a series of sculptural works by Giuseppe Sartorio, and the monuments that hold the mortal remains of the Servant of God Friar Paul, Msgr. Bonfiglio Mura and Msgr. Eugenio Cano. The confraternity named after the Virgin of the Holy Rosary has been based in this church since 1675.
