A church behind the beach

An acient church a few steps from the sea. Despite the time, the small church of Saint Efisio, close to the archaeological site of Nora, in the municipality of Pula (Ca), still retains all its charm, thanks not only to its sober line, enhanced by large blocks of sandstone and limestone, but especially from the beautiful frame that only Sardinian sea has to offer through its magnificent colors.

This church on the seaside was built in the second half of the eleventh century, in the exact place where, according to the tradition, was martyred Saint Efisio. A small building, inside which is an atmosphere of strong spirituality,  emphasized by the low sunlight that penetrates through the small  lateral single lancet.

Inside the church stands the bright color of the sandstone; there is an almost total lack of frills, everywhere dominates simplicity. The three small naves, divided by small arches stand on simple pillars. Everything looks white, essential.

In the small domed structure that emerges from the floor level of the church, are visible the remains of early medieval martyrdom, where the saint was buried and where his mortal remains were preserved, until they were stolen by the Pisans, carried in Pisa and given back to the Sardinians only in the late 1800s.

Outside, the building has an apse free of cracks, facing the sea, dated from the early stage of construction of the building, in Romanesque style. It is here that the rock used in this first phase of construction retains all its archaic charm, a slight contrast with the atrium arcade, it built several centuries later, dating from the seventeenth century, which opens to an open space dotted with palm trees. At the center of this facade latest, surmounted by a small bell gable, where it opens a window with three lights there is a small door, only entrance into the building.