The building shows itself as the product of an Art Nouveau makeover dated to the early decades of the 20th century. However, the church is mentioned in 1688 in Bishop Morillo’s inventory. An even older presence of a church to refer to the medieval village of Gutoi known in Aragonese-era documentation cannot be ruled out. In the mid-nineteenth century the church is remembered by Angius, who reports it as “the chapel in the indicated valley of this name, where the families of the 25 and more mills that are in the same are gathered.” In the 1960s due to the collapse of part of the rocky ridge below, the church was closed even though it had not been damaged. The church was finally restored in 2010 and reopened for worship. St. Lorendo, unfortunately, owes its fame to a tragic episode, the 1957 landslide that struck the houses below the church, still visible in part, where a baby just a few months old died. The episode inspired the poet Antonio Strinna in the writing of the poem “Badde Lontana” and later Antonio Costa in the composition of the song of the same name interpreted by the island’s leading polyphonic choirs.
