The rural church of Santa Maria di Paradiso is built on structures from the Roman era; it was donated in 1089 by the Judge of Càlari, Constantine Salusio II, to the Victorine monks of Marseilles, who cared for it no to abandon it around 1180. The church fell into ruin several times and was rebuilt several times, no until, in the 17th century during the period of Spanish rule it was rebuilt and dedicated to Our Lady of Montserrat.
The facade of the building is simple, characterized by an end plate, in which a framed portal centrally opens, preceded by two steps, surmounted by a lunetted niche, in which is a small statue of the Virgin. The upper part of the elevation has a glazed oculus. The church’s simple and essential interior features a single-nave hall. Illuminated by window openings arranged on the side perimeter walls, it has, one on each side, niches within which statues are located. A third of them culminates the altar, in the slightly raised presbytery area. In it is displayed the ancient and much revered statue of the Virgin and Child. In Vallermosa every year on September 8 the Feast of Saint Mary is celebrated in its rural church, not far from the town, characterized the day before by the procession with the simulacrum of the Saint from the parish church to its country church, religious ceremonies, then the return and procession in the opposite direction, and the following day the procession through the streets of the town. The Church of Santa Maria was built on a spa facility that was part of a villa from the Roman era; in fact, the present construction exploits some of the original masonry built presumably between the second and third centuries AD, given comparisons with other similar structures in Sardinia. Later, the remains of the ancient Roman Baths went into oblivion, no to their rediscovery, when part of the thermal environments were excavated, with hasty methods, by a local clergyman, Antonino Figus, in the early 1960s. The technique for construction used is typical of the Imperial E- tà, characterized by opus vittatum mixtum, in which a la of bricks was alternated with one of tufelli. It is believed that the structure was originally covered by a barrel vault. Water was supplied using water from a nearby well, by means of a hydraulic system that is still well preserved, equipped with drains in terracotta pipes. The apoditerium, i.e., the entrance room, and the frigidarium, i.e., the room equipped with two basins in which cold water was contained, are still clearly visible. To the right of the Church of St. Mary, one can see the plinths that supported the cavity for the passage of hot air, and the thermal area intended for the calidarium, or hot baths. The mouth of the furnace for space heating is also preserved. Beginning in the fourth century A.D., the baths were used as a place of Christian worship, on which the church would, later, be built. In 2000 a group of archaeologists and researchers carried out excavations that began research into the origins of the Church, and recently a shell-shaped baptistery was unearthed, equipped with a step to facilitate the entry of baptizers into the water.
