Santuario di Santa Maria di Bonarcado
Santuario di Santa Maria di Bonarcado
It is said that a hunter, lost in the dense forest that occupied these places, discovered the sanctuary that immediately became the destination of numerous pilgrims. Hence the meaning still given to the word 'bonacatu': 'good finding'.
Another interpretation attributes it instead with the meaning of 'good reception'.
Perhaps the oldest Marian shrine on the island, with a cross-shaped structure and a dome at the centre of the intersection of the arms, all with barrel vaults.
During archaeological excavations in the 1990s, the remains of a thermal complex belonging to a rustic villa from the 1st century A.D. were found, with mosaic floors and the remains of a praefurnium (hot-air oven). In Byzantine times, after a long period of neglect, the structures were converted into a church, using techniques similar to those used for the church of San Giovanni di Sinis.
The head of the western arm had a Romanesque façade between 1242 and 1268, the work of the same workers who were active in the basilica extension.
The lower part of the dark basalt and red trachyte façade features wide corner pilasters and arabesque arches opened at the ridge by a tiny lobe.
The upper part reveals later reconstructions of both ashlars and ceramic basins.
Inside, all the arms of the church are covered by barrel vaults, with four arches emerging above the central space, supporting a pseudo-dome. The early medieval age of the building is evident from the irregular masonry and the presence of alternating stone and brick ashlars. The floor preserves mosaic fragments from the 3rd-4th century and a basin, once decorated with mosaics and possibly used as a baptistery.
On the altar is a terracotta tile depicting the Madonna and Child, made in Tuscany between 1350 and 1400, set in a niche surmounted by a shell, reminiscent of the style of Donatello and Michelozzo. It is assumed that the work was commissioned by one of the abbey's priors.
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