The church is dedicated to St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, as well as a philosopher, theologian and author of important works that formed the basis of spiritual reflections for many centuries. Although he did not come to Cagliari during his lifetime, his relics were preserved in the original temple located in what is now Largo Carlo Felice, where they remained from the 6th to the 8th century. The present church was built beginning in 1577 to the design of the Palearo brothers, Jacopo and Giorgio, experts in fortifications who were in Cagliari on the commission of King Philip II of Spain to make alterations to the walls of the Marina district, and it is one of the few examples in Sardinia of Renaissance art: it has a Greek-cross plan with the four barrel-vaulted arms and a hemispherical dome at their intersection. The simple quadrangular facade has an arched portal, enclosed between two pilasters and an architrave. In the counterfacade is the chancel, supported by a low arched vault. The chancel vault is embellished with coffered and rosette motifs in classical style, carved in stone. The niches with cornices and gables above the side altars are interesting. Paintings by various authors, the ancient statue of the saint, and a Baroque altar in gilded wood are preserved inside.
The church has gone through periods and even improper uses over the centuries that had compromised its historical-architectural reading, but the major restoration work begun in the 1980s restored the church to its present state.
