The Cathedral of St. Pantaleo is a church in the historical center of Dolianova

Dolianova

Dolianova is an Italian town and comune in the province of Cagliari, Sardinia. The town was born on June 25, 1905 from the fusion of two centers: Sicci San Biagio and San Pantaleo. Its economy is based on agriculture . The name "Dolianova" has obscure origins...

, Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, one of the main Romanesque buildings

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 in the island.

The site of the church has been connected with the Christian worship as early as the 6th century AD, as testified by a Palaeo-Christian baptismal font housed under the church's presbytery

Presbytery (architecture)

The presbytery is the name for an area in a church building which is reserved for the clergy.In the oldest church it is separated by short walls, by small columns and pilasters in the Renaissance ones; it can also be raised, being reachable by a few steps, usually with railings....

. The existence of the diocese of Dolia (ancient name of Dolianova) is documented from 1089 until 1503, when it was merged into the archdiocese of Cagliari. The cathedral, titular seat of the former, was erected between the 12th and the 13th centuries.

The church is in Pisane-Romanesque style with some Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 elements (dating to the last construction phase, in the 13th century), and was built of sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

. The façade, the sides, the apse and the bell tower are decorated with pilaster

Pilaster

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....

s and Lombard band

Lombard band

A Lombard band is a decorative blind arcade, usually exterior, often used during the Romanesque and Gothic periods of architecture.Lombard bands are believed to have been first used during the First Romanesque Period of the early 11th Century. At that time, they were the most common architectural...

s featuring numerous different sculptured motifs, such as geometrical patterns, human figures and mythological animals.

The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by cruciform pilasters, some of which of the Gothic polycolumn type. The sculpted capitals portray evangelical scenes, such as the "Nativity" and the "Adoration of the Magi".