The Basilica of St. Saturninus is the oldest church dedicated to the city’s patron saint and one of the leading early Christian monuments in the Mediterranean.
The first documented mention of the Basilica dates back to the years 533-534 AD, but historians date its foundation to the mid-5th century AD. It is said to have risen in the area of the Christian necropolis as the martyrium of the Cagliari martyr Saturninus, who was beheaded according to the Passio sancti Saturni on November 23, 304 AD, for refusing to deny his Christian faith.
The structure underwent its first significant alterations in 1089, when the ruins of the church were donated by the judge of Cagliari Constantine Salusio II de Lacon-Gunale to the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of St. Victor of Marseilles, who reconsecrated the church in 1119 to establish the seat of the Order’s Sardinian priory there.
The building suffered severe damage in 1314 during the siege of the city by the Aragonese, falling into ruin the following century. From 1614 archaeological excavations were carried out in an attempt to find some relics of the martyrs, and materials removed from the site were used for the renovation of Cagliari Cathedral. In 1714 the Basilica was granted to the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries and dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian.
The Basilica was severely damaged by bombing in 1943, which was followed by major reconstruction and restoration work before it was reopened for visits in July 1996. In 2004, on the feast of St. Saturninus, it was reconsecrated and reopened for worship.
The surrounding area of the necropolis is still the subject of archaeological excavations, and has returned numerous burials from the Roman and Byzantine periods.
