The church, with the title Sancti Petri de Piscatore, appears in documents from the second half of the 11th century, among the possessions donated to the Victorine monks of Marseilles by the Cagliari judge Constantine Salusio II de Lacon-Gunale. Still partially to be clarified are the historical events of human settlement in the area in which the little church is located, the coastal strip that stretches along the Cagliari lagoon. Certainly in the area stood in the first half of the 13th century the archiepiscopal villa of Santa Ilia (or Igia, Gilla), the main center of the Giudicato of Cagliari, where the “judges” resided and where the cathedral and episcopal palace were located. Besides St. Peter’s Church, there were then at least three other churches: St. Cecilia, St. Mary of Cluso and St. Paul’s, the latter of which was destroyed in the second half of the 19th century. The church has undergone several reconstructions: it now has a single hall, with a wooden roof, originally probably vaulted. The small apse, in large limestone cantons with some elements of perusal, is one of the protoromanesque testimonies to the church’s early layout, and can be attributed to Lombard masters with transalpine influences active in the Giudicato of Cagliari by the end of the 11th century. The Gothic transformation of the facade took place, by Tuscan masters, probably in the last quarter of the 11th century. Once a year, on the feast of the saint, the little church comes alive for civil and religious celebrations organized by Collegio dei pescatori di stagno, which has always been linked to the small temple.
