ROMANA

A hilly town located in the upper Temo valley, easily reached by taking the state road 292 that connects it to Alghero, which is about 40 km away. The territory is characterized by volcanic and limestone rocks alternating with wooded valleys and pastures.

Along the western border with the municipality of Monteleone Rocca Doria, there is a short stretch of the artificial lake Temo, one of whose major tributaries, the river of the same name, crosses a good part of the territory of Romana.

The town borders to the south with Padria and Cossoine, to the east with Thiesi, and to the north with Villanova Monteleone.

The abundance of water sources has allowed settlements in the territory of Romana since prehistoric times, and the ancient statuettes found are thought to have been gifts in thanks for the healing from illnesses thanks to the beneficial virtues of these waters. The importance of water in the history of the town of Romana is supported by the celebrations in honor of San Giovanni Nepomuceno, protector from floods and death by drowning. Of particular importance for their thermal properties are the sources of “Abbarghente” or “Mudeju”, waters that flow sparkling right from the source.

North of the town, about 1 km away and right on the border with Thiesi, there is a curious place called “Sinnadorzu”. In Sardinian “si sinnare” means to make the sign of the cross and legend has it that, given the episodes of banditry at the end of the nineteenth century that occurred especially in crossroads, those who went towards Romana, once arrived at that place, they would have to make the sign of the cross to ensure they avoided unpleasant encounters.

The town is crossed by the provincial road 28 bis, a connecting artery between Ittiri and the state road 292, and branches off into other main and secondary streets, many of them embellished with murals depicting scenes of daily life and work activities but also reproductions of some paintings by the painter Brancaleone Cugusi, born in Romana in 1903, and whose fame has gone beyond regional borders making him affirm himself as an important artist at a national level.

The etymology of Romana is today the noun used for its denomination, but in the past, it was an adjective that indicated precisely the ownership of the villa to some subject who wanted to strengthen the statement that its owner came from Rome.

The economy has always been based mainly on the cultivation of fields and on livestock breeding. The livestock raised was, and still is, mainly sheep but several heads of cattle and goats can also be counted. Over the last century, mining and kaolin activity has taken place in alternating phases from the mine located on the border with Cossoine and Thiesi.

In the western part of the town stands the parish church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Built around the 16th century, it underwent major renovations towards the end of the 19th century after being struck by lightning that damaged a large part of the structure. The white sandstone façade occupies a good part of the square on which the church overlooks, the bell tower is a large square structure, while inside the single nave gives space to the side chapels.

The other church in the town of Romana is that of Santa Croce, also built in the second half of the 16th century in Romanesque style with a small central bell tower.

About 2 km from the town in a southerly direction is the church of Madonna della Salute, also known as “Santa Maria de s’Ispidale” and dating back to the 16th century. The church probably has this name due to the fact that it was built or belonged to the Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as the Order of Malta. At the beginning of the 19th century, however, the church fell into ruin and suffered major damage, only around the middle of the same century was it rebuilt with the structure we know today.

The sanctuary of San Lussorio is located about 4.5 km northwest of the town. The peculiarity of this church is that it was built starting from a limestone cave where Lussorio hid and took refuge for seven years to escape persecution. The current structure has an entrance with a buttress and pillars that form five arches of which the central one is the access route to the interior. The interior of the church has a single vault dug into the limestone rock with a small lateral pulpit, while the front altar has four niches that house as many statues. Those at the two lateral ends represent the saints Cesello and Camerino, two boys condemned to martyrdom for the same accusations brought against Lussorio for having professed their faith. The two central statues instead represent Lussorio himself in the two periods that characterized his short life. In one he is depicted in military clothing for his career in the army, where he distinguished himself for his valor; in the other instead as a saint, after having converted and tried to spread Christianity so strongly that he was persecuted for it. Behind the altar, which is accessed through a crack in the limestone wall, there is the original cave that hosted the saint during his long years of life as a hermit and which today forms a sort of apse for the church itself.

In the territory of Romana there are numerous archaeological sites that bear witness to human settlements, so we find the domus de Janas of “Monte Ferrosu” and those of “Monte Airadu” dating back to the Neolithic period, and the various nuraghes, including “Pibirra”, “Suezzones”, “Giagu”, “Cugutta”, “Muttigu”. Some with a single tower, others complex, and others still with the remains of villages that existed in those distant times.