San Gavino

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Exterior view
The interior of the basilica
The crypt

The Basilica of San Gavino in Porto Torres , dates back to the 11th century and is a former cathedral in the early Tuscan style. It is located in the province of Sassari in Sardinia . The Holy. Gavinus is one of the "patron saint" of the island. The Sardinians name the month of his death October, the Santu gavinu, after him.

While the hegemony of the Victorians in the Cagliari judiciary led to the paralysis of the art world, the Torres judiciary took part in the development of Romanesque architecture on the Italian mainland. One of the most important buildings of early Tuscan architecture was erected in Porto Torres.

San Gavino or Santu Bainzu 'e portu, as the Sardinians call the basilica at the port, is today the largest, best-preserved and most important Pisan church from the time before the builders Busketos (Buscheto) and Rainaldo painted those colorful churches with the construction of the Pisa Cathedral Shaped style that is commonly understood as "Pisan". The beginnings of the building go back to the middle of the 11th century, as San Gavino is already mentioned in the time of the judge Barison I of Torres (1063-1065). The inscription of a Guido de Vada with the year 1111 on the base of a pilaster strip was certainly attached after the completion of the basilica. As a Sardinian manuscript from 1470 reports, “the eleven most excellent and best stonemasons and masons that could be found in Pisa” were brought in to build the church. The unknown master builder certainly came from Pisa, although he took up foreign suggestions and led to a synthesis of traditional building methods. In keeping with the times, he laid out the building with three naves, following the scheme of early basilicas . The feeling of space is reflected by the wide, high central nave and the narrow, low side aisles. Slender rows of columns, the rhythm of which is interrupted by cross pillars at irregular intervals, are connected by short arches . In the Tuscan way, Roman columns made of marble and granite were used , the variety of shapes and colors of which contrasts the solemn uniformity of the ashlar with a restrained cheerfulness. The simple square stone slabs (abaken) above the capitals , which can also be found in the Tuscan churches of the 11th century (e.g. San Piero a Grado) and in the cathedral of Pisa, were made in Sardinia and in the 12th century Tuscany adopted by almost all churches. In contrast to the basic type of the Tuscan churches covered with beams, only the central nave has a beamed ceiling. In the side aisles, the cross vaults with the undecorated low belt arches reveal Lombard influence.

The monotonous sequence of the inner rows of arches continues in the wide, sleek blind arches of the outer walls. Above and below the flat monopitch roofs of the side aisles, the arches are supported by flat pilaster strips at two-way intervals. This double cycle of the blind arch frieze can also be seen on the apses of the church of San Piero a Grado. In Sardinia the motif was copied in numerous later churches, for example in San Simplicio in Olbia and Santa Giusta . The large number of transverse ribs on the lead roof enhances the perspective effect of the elongated structure. In San Gavino, all the details come together to form a harmonious whole of a sublime celebration, which is also due to the unsardic generosity of the approximately 55 m long complex.

The two terminal apses of the central nave are unique in the floor plan. It is believed that the shape arose for liturgical reasons. The priests have always performed consecration facing east (sunrise). According to early Christian custom, they turned to the congregation, so that the apse of the older churches is in the west. Since the 5th century, the liturgy has prescribed that the priest turn his back on the community, which is how the east apse was introduced. At San Gavino, however, the western apse was undoubtedly part of the original plan. This shows the faintly indicated transept, which is also found in Buscheto's plan for the cathedral of Pisa. According to a long-standing thesis, the entrance and facade were initially in the east, roughly level with the two eastern cross pillars. Later, the basilica was expanded to include the four pairs of eastern pillars and the east apse, thus adapting it to the current liturgy. In fact, many details of the east wing reveal the sculptural Lombard style, such as the arched windows with stepped, instead of smooth, bevels or the majolica medallions. The only two Romanesque capitals can also be found here. One of them recognized amid the pigeons reliefs of the west wing as of leaf, heart and Volutenmotiven spoils after built early Christian capitals. The comparison of the pigeons with those in the north-west portal also confirms the Lombard influence. This portal was moved to its current location in 1492 when Catalan builders added the large south and north-east portal.

Excavations in the interior of San Gavino did not confirm the first hypothesis, as the foundations of the former facade were not found at the level of the two eastern cross pillars, but the remains of a three-aisled early Christian basilica with a western apse. Another thesis assumes that San Gavino was planned as a double apse from the beginning, with the main altar in the middle, where it still stood at the beginning of the 17th century. This assumption has been buoyed since 1978 when the plaster layers were removed from the inner walls, a construction seam at the level of the two western cross pillars became visible. It suggests that the basilica was built in two phases. but was built according to a uniform plan; The squat apse as well as the low arched windows and arcades in the east wing are used to show that the more harmoniously designed west wing is the younger one. The building history of San Gavino is by no means clear.

As the early Christian capitals used in the western part of San Gavino show, the Romanesque basilica was not the first church on this site. When the Spanish Archbishop of Sassari, Manca Cedrelles, had excavations carried out in the interior of San Gavino in 1614, the remains of various older buildings were found. Actually he was looking for the bones of the Turritan martyr Gavinus and his fellow sufferers Protus and Januarius, who, according to tradition, were buried here. Another Roman sarcophagus from the 3rd century is placed in the anteroom, which shows Apollo and the nine muses in a relief between the married couple . A Byzantine monumental inscription in the right aisle, one of the most important inscriptions of the 7th or 8th century in Sardinia, praises the victory of a dux Constantinus over the Lombards .

literature

  • Roberto Coroneo, Renata Serra: Sardegna preromanica e romanica (= Patrimonio artistico italiano ). Jaca Book et al., Milano et al. 2004, ISBN 88-16-60327-5 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The community founded in 1108 by theologians ( Wilhelm von Champeaux ) and canons of the regulated canons of St. Victor in Paris, which under their first abbot Gilduin (1135-55) adopted the Augustine rule and added his own consuetudines. The Victorians sought a synthesis of scholasticism and mysticism. They emphasized the symbolism of the world and saw the goal of life and learning in the contemplative, mystical view of God. Its most important representatives were Hugo von St. Viktor (1097–1141), Richard von St. Viktor (1110–1173) and Thomas Gallus . The Franciscans and late medieval mysticism were influenced by the views of the Victorians.

Coordinates: 40 ° 49 ′ 55.5 ″  N , 8 ° 24 ′ 2.6 ″  E