The church of St. Martin is located on the outskirts of the town on the road to Samassi.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to trace its founding, as the archival documents in our possession refer mainly to the restorations it underwent and the bequests intended for altar embellishment and furnishings.
A careful observation of its structure, however, suggests that it had an original Romanesque layout.
Because of its peripheral location, the surrounding area was designated for the burial of the dead during the plague epidemic that struck the island in the mid-17th century and hit Sanluri hard.
Testifying to the “plague in Sanluri” is in the church of San Martino a reproduction of the painting currently kept in the Parish N.S. delle Grazie. It is an altar panel, the work of a modest painter, depicting in the center the Virgin and Child, on the left Saints Martin, Roch and Rosalie, traditionally invoked against pestilence, below the patron at prayer, the Anime Purganti and, on the right, a small view of Sanluri with plague scenes. In the latter part of the painting, the church of St. Martin (left, surrounded by a small wall and without a porch) can be identified.
