In July 1943 its construction was started with a project entrusted, on the commission of Archbishop Monsignor Arcangelo Mazzotti, to Milanese architect Ambrogio Annoni. The Sacred Heart Church stands in the Monte Rosello neighborhood, which came into being beyond the bridge of the same name around 1925. The church project was developed in two versions, one in 1936 and another in 1937. However, the construction of the building, which began with the laying of the foundation stone in 1943, went on for several years: the structure was blessed in 1952, while the decoration was completed in 1969. In 1980 the church was elevated to the rank of minor basilica. The building has a linear facade enriched with pilasters and characterized by rounded side corners. II bell tower consists of three overlapping volumes that gradually narrow from a square base. Inside, a single nave widens toward the presbytery. Decorative elements, strongly desired by parish priest Monsignor Antonio Piga, include a bronze portal made by sculptor Mauro Moschi and a complex of frescoes, the work of Sassarese painter Costantino Spada. Spada painted The Crucifixion on the vault of the apse, II Dialogue of God with Man in the transept vault, a frescoed altarpiece, depictions on the side walls with stained glass windows, and a Stations of the Cross made in mosaic. The decorations as a whole follow a precise doctrinal program, centered on Gospel reflection dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Spada also made the preparatory cartoons for the stained glass windows, executed by Giuliani in Rome between 1961 and 1964, and for the mosaics.
