The municipalities of the Romanesque Network in Sardinia, together with Itinera Romanica – Associazione Amici del Romanico, have been engaged for several years in the definition of shared policies and strategies, aimed at enhancing the monumental heritage and promoting tourism in the territories, with activities that have involved about 50,000 visitors within the Sardinian Romanesque system.

In this wake, in 2022 the Romanesque Daysin which 55 Sardinian municipalities opened their doors to over 60 Romanesque churches in Sardinia. In view of the great response, in 2023 the Fondazione Sardegna Isola del Romanico will take the lead in an ambitious project to build a National Romanesque Network.

Nell’anno 2023 alla nostra proposta aderiscono altre due regioni italiane, la Lombardia e la Sicilia. Attraverso la sottoscrizione di un apposito protocollo nasce Italia Romanica, una rete del Romanico nazionale nata dall’unione di tre enti: la Fondazione Sardegna Isola del Romanico, la lombarda Fondazione Lemine e la siciliana Le Vie dei Tesori, alle quali nel 2024 si è aggiunta anche l’Associazione In Collina in rappresentanza del Piemonte.

Sardinia, through our Fondazione, has carved out an important role for itself on the national scene and has taken on the role of leader in this project, both for the conception and the coordination of the same, realising for the first time a national network experience of the Italian Romanesque heritage, with shared image and programmes in the organisation of special days dedicated to the architecture of the Italian Middle Ages.

This was therefore the great novelty that characterised the programme for the year 2023 initiated by the Fondazione. The national event saw the realisation of a single calendar of visits to over 100 churches distributed among the three regions opened and visited throughout Italy. In Sardinia, 60 municipalities of the network opened about 70 Romanesque monuments, which were presented by expert guides, registering an estimated attendance of over 30,000 visitors during the three weekends in which the event took place.

The knowledge, promotion and valorisation of the vast Sardinian cultural heritage are among the statutory principles of Fondazione, which, since its establishment, has set itself the objective of making its monuments known by promoting their accessibility, both real and virtual, introducing in both cases the use of new information and digital technologies. Accessibility has thus become the key word to achieve this objective, which allows the use of the asset by all, breaking down distances and barriers.