The small church of Sant’Alenixedda, built on the very ancient site of San Vetrano where Roman remains have been found, is a small medieval architectural jewel dating from around the 13th century.
It consists of a single nave with simple lines, just as simple and elegant is the facade.
This is divided into three parts by four pilasters: the central one is characterized by the sturdy arch that gives prominence to the entrance and the bell gable of elegant sobriety, while the two side mirrors receive momentum from ascending lobed arches resting on corbels.
Alenixedda is a diminutive of the name Aleni, which in Sardinian stands for Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, who is also venerated on the island as a saint.
The diminutive, almost certainly, was intended to distinguish two very different places of worship, but dedicated to the same saint.
The small one precisely, erected at the site of San Vetrano, and the comparatively much larger one, erected later in the nearby villa of Quartu.
