Abbazia Cistercense Nostra Signora di Corte
The church is located in a place rich in water sources known as “Cabu abbas” or “Caput aquae”.
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About this place
The church is located in a place rich in water sources known as “Cabu abbas” or “Caput aquae”. The church had a three-nave structure with a transept, a quadrangular apse, four chapels and a circular oculus that illuminated the transept. The wind comes from the north and slightly bends the tall grass surrounding Our Lady of Castro. The church suddenly appears, isolated on a plateau that seems suspended between time and earth. The light trachyte façade emerges with an essential, almost austere geometry, but just get closer to discover the pink reflections of the stone and the slight irregularities left by the chisels. The only voice left is that of the church, which for centuries has resisted the winds and centuries, guardian of a past that has never stopped making itself heard. They bring candles, songs, and the scent of sweet bread that accompanies every is a ritual that unites generations, as if the journey itself were a prayer. Outside, the landscape is a slow-moving film: hills, pastures, some flocks in the distance. Mount Limbara, in the background, observes everything like a silent guardian. At sunset, the trachyte of the façade turns amber, and the church seems to shine from within, as if time was giving it back its light.
Loc. Cabu Abbas, 08018, Sindia NU, Sindia
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Our Story
A rich history
The abbey takes its name from the meeting between the judge of Torres Gonario de Lacon-Gunale and Bernard of Clairvaux during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which led to the creation of a Cistercian monastic community in Sardegna and the construction of the church in 1149. The current building dates back to 1600, while archaeological investigations have revealed traces of the original abbey, abandoned in the 15th century and looted for materials for construction. The portal, simple and harmonious, leads to a bare interior, where light enters with difficulty, filtering through small slits and drawing shadows that move slowly on the is a light that seems to have memory, as if it recognized the centuries that have passed. Founded in the 12th century by the Victorine monks of Marseille, the church was the religious center of a village that had hundreds of inhabitants in the Middle Ages. Castro was one of the seats of the Giudicato of Torres, then slowly abandoned, swallowed up by silence and time. Every year, in May, the people of Oschiri return here on pilgrimage, walking along the ancient country road. In that moment, Our Lady of Castro is not just an ancient building: it is a breath of Sardegna, a living fragment of memory that continues to speak to those who know how to stop and listen.
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Everything you need to know
Contact
Sindia, Nuoro Sardegna
Getting Here
Loc. Cabu Abbas, 08018, Sindia NU, Sindia
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