Parish Church of St. Vitus Martyr

The parish church of San Vito Martire dates from the second half of the 16th century, as suggested by its late Sardinian Gothic style. It was restored between 2003 and 2005. The early 17th-century facade has a smooth face and is concluded by curvilinear crowning with double inflection and side volutes, with a stone cross in the center. The simple, linear portal is topped by a central niche housing a stone statue of the Martyr. At the top, a rectangular window probably replaces an ancient rose window. The bell tower, erected between 1718 and 1720, has a square belfry with a crenellated crowning, from which starts an octagonal drum topped by the dome. It appears to be the later constructive intervention. The interior originally consisted of the nave alone, divided into three bays by two ogival arches, from which the chapels were later developed. A pointed arch resting on false late Gothic capitals introduces the altar chapel, on a raised floor. The square chancel is covered with Gothic star vaulting with five pendulous gems. At the entrance to the church on the right is the baptismal font, epigraphically dated 1705. The marble altar, dated 1711 as shown by the epigraph, is decorated with ornamental designs and motifs. In the center of the slab is the boat of St. Vitus in white marble, and above it are two levels also similarly decorated. In the niche of the retable is a statue of St. Vitus, patron saint of Villagreca, celebrated in June along with St. Isidore, protector of farmers. Made of carved and polychrome wood, it presents us with the saint holding the cross in his right hand And with the left hand the palm of martyrdom. The liturgical furnishings of the temple are ancient and of great value: the 17th-century candlesticks of gilded wood; the late 16th- and early 17th-century sorrowful crucifix; the 19th-century litter of the Assumption; a holy water stoup from St. Constantine’s; the 18th-century simulacrum of St. Raphael with Tobiolus; and the 17th-century wooden statues of St. Helen and St. Barbara. Also of interest are contemporary furnishings such as the Stations of the Cross tiles by ceramist Claudio Pulli.

Write a Review