Strutture preesistenti come appoggio per le absidi a Cagliari nel XIV secolo

The paper addresses the issue of the reuse of existing structures as a starting point for the construction of churches, paying particular attention to religious architecture built in Cagliari starting from the 1320s. The study focused in particular on some churches whose apses were built exploiting the presence of earlier defensive structures either abandoned or damaged during the Aragonese siege of Cagliari Castle (1324-26). As suggested by evidence found in the built-up architecture, in the architectural production after the Aragonese conquest of the city it is possible to find traces of a building strategy that involved the reuse of abandoned towers for the construction of apses, converting the walls entirely or adjoining them to the new structures. In the cases identified, the configuration, geometry and size of the apses and liturgical choirs were often conditioned by pre-existing reused structures, influencing the construction of the entire edifice and surviving renovation or reconstruction works –more or less radical– over the centuries. In particular, this study deals with the case of the Church of San Domenico whose construction was likely started following the war between the Pisans and Aragonese, reusing a tower of the walls of the village of Villanova (heavily damaged during the war) within which the apsidal chapel of the new Church was built (erected in a place different from the first, dedicated to Saint Anne). Data from iconographic materials found in archives in Cagliari and tapping the potential offered by digital imaging tools made it possible to create a virtual reconstruction that has led to new interpretations and assumptions on the construction process of the 14th century edifice.