Over the centuries, entire generations have passed down their devotion to the saint, making these places the heart of Sardinian Christianity and consecrating St. Antioco the Martyr as the supreme Patron Saint of Sardinia.
The Catacomb, the only one of its kind in all of Sardinia, was converted from five tombs in the vast Punic necropolis dating back to the 6th century B.C. After the death of St. Antiochus in 127 AD, Christians, eager to be buried near him, altered the original structure to create their own cemetery, which was used until 500 AD. At the entrance, you can see the tomb that held the saint’s body from 127 AD until 1615, which remains a place of worship and prayer for pilgrims and tourists to this day. No less important are the other types of burial sites found here: arcosolia, floor pits, niches carved into the walls, and a rare canopy tomb characterized by large pillars rising up to the ceiling.
The Basilica of St. Antiocus the Martyr has ancient origins dating back at least to the Byzantine era, around the 6th century AD. The original building was presumably a small early Christian complex built against the catacomb of the Holy Martyr. In the 6th century, a major restoration was carried out in the Justinian Byzantine style. The first documented mention of the Basilica as the Monastery of Saint Antiocus dates back to 1089, when it was donated to the Benedictine monastery of Saint Victor in Marseille. The original building had a Greek cross plan, with a central domed “nave” from which four arms with barrel vaults extended. During the 12th century, the basilica underwent an extension of the central nave that transformed the Greek cross into a Latin cross, with an east-west orientation and the creation of an apse and an apsidal side chapel. In the 18th century, with the repopulation of the island, the basilica was further expanded, and a new Baroque façade was constructed in 1772. In the final decades of the 20th century, restoration work was carried out to restore the church to its original appearance, removing Baroque plasterwork and furnishings. The building is constructed of trachyte blocks and preserves sculptural elements such as the dome supported by an octagonal drum decorated with symbols of turtles and lion’s paws, symbols of apotropaic and Christological significance.
