What to See in Ozieri - Top Sights and Attractions

Catholic church in Italy. The Basilica di Sant'Antioco of Bisarcio is a countryside church near Chilivani, a frazione of Ozieri, Sardinia, Italy. Located on an isolated volcanic hill, it is one of the largest Romanesque churches in Sardinia.

A Catholic diocese with seat in Bisarcium, in what was then the giudicato of Torres (one of the four independent quasi-kingdoms in which Sardinia was divided) or Guisarchium is documented from 1065 to 1503, when it was annexed to that of Alghero. A first cathedral was built here in the late 11th century, but was later damaged by a fire, so that a document from 1139 suggests that the bishop had moved his seat to Ardara. The new cathedral was finished in 1174, when the two storey portico on the façade was completed. Today scanty remains of the medieval village of Bisarcio remain.^[1]

The caves of San Michele are caves of karst origin located south of the town of Ozieri, a few meters from the civil hospital.

They owe their name to the ancient presence of a small place of worship dedicated to Archangel Michael, which was present until the 18th century.

The archaeological importance of the caves was first highlighted by archaeologist Antonio Taramelli at the beginning of the 20th century, when many artifacts of fine workmanship, particularly ceramics, pertaining to the Eneolithic (also known as the Recent Sardinian Neolithic, 3,500-2,900 B.C.) and even older, belonging to the San Ciriaco culture, were identified. The civilization authored by these artifacts was called the "San Michele civilization" by scholars in the last postwar period and, since the 1970s, more commonly the Ozieri culture.

A few meters from the caves there is another, smaller one called "Grotta Mara," in which additional Neolithic artifacts have been found (in the upper part of the town there are other caves of archaeological interest, such as those of "Carmel" and "Calaresu").

St. Michael's caves until the late 1950s featured a large hall that was demolished to make a soccer field (where the hospital parking lot is today).

The church of the Blessed Virgin of Monserrato is a place of worship built presumably in the late 16th century. Located atop the hill of the same name, about 500 m above sea level, the country church dominates, from the west, the town of Ozieri.

The main facade of the church is characterized by a facing of "face-on" tufa blocks and an extremely simple design, dominated by a small bell gable at the top of the facade's double slope; the front door is flanked by two fluted shaft columns with floral capitals, set on a high plinth, complemented by a molded lintel in which the inscription "Reina de Monserradu" is engraved.

The side facades are also simple, marked by the rhythm of buttresses to which correspond, inside, three transverse ogival arches supporting a wooden roof.

The chancel area is raised above the hall, from which it is separated by a triumphal arch. Of interest is the 16th-century wooden tile on the chancel wall, depicting the arms of the noble Ozierese Satta family, benefactors of the church.

A number of 17th-century statues are preserved inside, including that of Our Lady of Monserrato. Of the same subject, there is also an oil on canvas by Ozierese painter Giuseppe Altana.