{"id":310245,"date":"2024-08-09T22:02:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T20:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/what-to-see\/sadali-church-of-santelena-empress-2\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:07:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:07:38","slug":"sadali-church-of-santelena-imperatrice","status":"publish","type":"what-to-see","link":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/what-to-see\/sadali-church-of-santelena-imperatrice\/","title":{"rendered":"Church of Sant’Elena Imperatrice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Church of Sant’Elena Imperatrice in Sadali<\/strong><\/a> stands on a hill near the Funtana Manna spring, in a picturesque setting surrounded by nature. The building, with a single nave and a rectangular plan, has very ancient origins: the original structure probably dates back to the 10th\u201311th centuries and is attributable to the Byzantine tradition, with clear references to the Romanesque style.<\/p>\n

Built in local travertine, the church retains traces of its original structure, such as the ancient portal on the fa\u00e7ade, which is now bricked up. The apse, partly destroyed over time, has been replaced by the current entrance, altering the building\u2019s original layout whilst retaining its simple and austere character.<\/p>\n

Dedicated to Sant’Elena, a historical and religious figure of great importance, the church is linked to the tradition of Emperor Constantine\u2019s mother, who, according to legend, found the Cross of Christ in the Holy Land. In Sardinia, the saint is particularly venerated and in Sadali her feast day is celebrated on 18 August, with great popular participation. Among the most characteristic traditions is Sa cursa de su pannu, a race that in the past was run on horseback, on foot and even on donkeys.<\/p>\n

Within the context of local devotion, Sant’Elena also takes on a particular symbolic role: in contrast to Saint Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, she is regarded as a \u2018scoiadora\u2019, that is, the one who breaks off engagements. This dual significance bears witness to the richness of the folk traditions associated with the church, which to this day remains a place of worship deeply rooted in the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover the Church of Sant’Elena Imperatrice in Sadali: medieval origins, Byzantine and Romanesque influences, and ancient folk traditions such as Sa cursa de su pannu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":237230,"template":"","village-conntection":[51013],"what-to-see-region-and-provinces":[76191,76190],"what-to-see-category":[30159],"class_list":["post-310245","what-to-see","type-what-to-see","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","village-conntection-sadali-it","what-to-see-region-and-provinces-cagliari-en","what-to-see-region-and-provinces-sardinia","what-to-see-category-place-of-cult"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see\/310245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/what-to-see"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see\/310245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"village-conntection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/village-conntection?post=310245"},{"taxonomy":"what-to-see-region-and-provinces","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see-region-and-provinces?post=310245"},{"taxonomy":"what-to-see-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.e-borghi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/what-to-see-category?post=310245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}