The small church was established in the early 1940s at the behest of the parish priests of St. Pontian to stimulate participation in religious life in the populous working-class “Lot B” neighborhood. In 1947 the ward was consecrated to the Blessed Virgin of Sorrows and Mass began to be celebrated in a former workers’ room located on Sicily Street. The designer Granata characterized the facade of the small church with a “sail” bell tower and a bell arch. A masonry altar and some balustrades were built inside. A wooden crucifix, a statue of the Blessed Virgin of Sorrows and a statue of St. John could be admired in the small church. Behind the small church, the rectory house was built; in the courtyard between the two buildings, children could entertain themselves in games. The “Lot B” district initially housed Carbonia’s first wood and sheet metal sheds, which first used to store construction workers’ tools, were later converted into brick buildings to provide housing for bachelor miners or those without families in tow.
