the cult of Santa Vitalia has very ancient origins. According to tradition, he was born in Cagliari in the 2nd century AD, when Vitalia and her friend Lucifera were condemned to be torn to pieces by wild beasts in the Roman amphitheatre. Miraculously the wild beasts spared the two women, who were condemned to the stake, but this time too they were saved thanks to the intervention of an angel. Finally Vitalia died pierced by a sword and her body was buried in the Christian cemetery near the Church of San Saturnino, patron saint of the city of Cagliari. The discovery, in 1634, of the two tombstones attributable to the two martyrs was due to the search for the relics, begun by Archbishop Monsignor Francesco Desquivel in 1614. The tombstone of Santa Vitalia bore the inscription: <<HIC JACET BENEM MORIE BITALIA >> (Here lies Vitalia of blessed memory). A short time later liturgical worship was paid to her. The headstones have since been found in the Basilica of Bonaria. The festival dedicated to the Saint is celebrated in early October, in Simala and in nineteen other towns in central and southern Sardinia.
History
The history of the church of Santa Vitalia is relatively recent. The first document in which the will is expressed by the priest Ignazio Uras dates back to 21 September 1892.
to the finance commissioner of Cagliari, to obtain through compensation, a part of the land in the place called Merenzia Santu Giuanni, equal to an area of 10 ares, on which the church dedicated to San Giovanni with adjoining cemetery already stood (acquired from the state property of State, about twenty years ago). The community of Simala had long wanted to build a church in honor of the Saint and the priest, for his part, expressed the need for more space to accommodate the multitude of faithful who flocked from nearby towns to celebrate the cult of Saint Vitalia. At the time the festival was celebrated in the parish church.
To give strength to the plea, the parish priest informed the Intendant that an illustrious Simalese, Judge Eugenio Cancedda, had donated the land surrounding the former church of San Giovanni, of which he was the owner. the correspondence went on for a while without leading to the hoped-for outcome, so, on 19 September 1893 the priest addressed King Umberto I directly, specifically asking for the 1683 land register of the surface of 10 ares (belonging to a very large state-owned lot, which the superintendent was trying to sell in full at a cost of 1,160 lire). Shortly afterwards, on 28 November of the same year, he addressed a letter to the Judge (who had already promised him the donation of the 1682 map, of 25 ares) so that he could intercede with the competent bodies. In exchange he promised the Saint’s divine favors to the Judge and his family. On 30 November 1893, the Intendency communicated to the mayor of Simala that it did not wish to grant the portion of land necessary for the construction of the church free of charge. At this point, the priest Uras requested further intervention from Judge Cancedda, so that the purchase could take place without demanding an excessive amount of money. The procedures for the conclusion of the negotiation proceeded slowly: on 10 August 1898 the sale was carried out by public auction, or secret ballots, and the judge Eugenio Cancedda, late Salvatore, from Simala was awarded lot no. 5234, including maps n.1683 and n.1684, at the price of 90 Lire. The Siccardi law prohibited moral bodies, including ecclesiastical ones, from accepting donations from private individuals without government authorization, so the priest Emilio Picciau sent the formal request to the Attorney General of the King, in order to receive the donation of a plot of land of 1.60. 00
hectares by Judge Eugenio Cancedda, where to build the country church of Santa Vitalia. the King of Italy Umberto I authorized the transfer of the land free of charge, through a specific decree, sent in 1900 to the Royal Magistrate’s Court of Mogoro, who in turn delivered it to the Mayor of Simala so that he could hand it over to the parish priest. the area donated by Judge Cancedda was registered in three maps called: Cresia de Santu Giuanni, S’Ingiriu de Santu Giuanni and Santu Giuanni. In 1898 the Santa Vitalia Company was established, with the aim of managing the income deriving from the exploitation of the area around the church (sale of sheep farming products such as wool and cheese and cultivation of the land).
One of the conditions imposed by Judge Cancedda was precisely that of using the income for the construction and maintenance of the building, which was actually built thanks to the proceeds and donations of the Simalais. Work began on the construction of the country church in 1900. The walls, arches, roof and altar were completed in 1905, while in 1908 the carpenter Peppico Garau was commissioned to build the entrance door. It took until 1910 for the inauguration of the church, the epigraph under the altar says that it was consecrated by the priest Angelo Ghiani (which seems unreliable, because we know that the bishop of the diocese takes care of the consecration of a church ). The inscription also refers to Judge Cancedda, without mentioning his name, mentioning a good benefactor who did his utmost to create the place of worship by involving the Simalais. the Judge died at the age of 59, in 1916.
Structural features
The country church of Santa Vitalia has a longitudinal plan and the façade is inspired, in its curvilinear architectural lines, by the parish church of San Nicolò. It is composed of a central nave with three round arches, which is accessed through two entrances: a main one and a secondary one, the latter is located behind the altar on the right side. It has a characteristic stone and mud masonry. the floor was made in 1915 with tiles from Segariu.
Over the years it underwent numerous ordinary and extraordinary maintenance interventions, documented through documents from the parish archive, others coming from the technical office of the municipality of Simala and the direct testimonies of those who participated in the works. In 1936 a massive restoration project involved: the roof, rebuilt on that occasion with tiles and reeds; the load-bearing structure, now inadequate to support such a load; the upper part of the altar, frescoed with drawings by Orrù Saturnino and Pasci Giovanni. In 1974, the roof, which in the meantime had been equipped with an asbestos roof, was demolished and rebuilt with Marseille tiles. At the same time, the works involved the demolition of the front wall up to the height of the main door and the elimination of the two stone architraves, which were rebuilt in concrete. Other interventions involved the replacement and patching up of deteriorated parts, such as the door, the plaster, the fixtures and the altar which was repainted by Giovanni Orrù following the style of the original design. A restoration in 1985 once again involved the roof, which was demolished and rebuilt, and also led to the replacement of the fixtures and the implementation of other consolidation and cleaning works on the structure as a whole. Around 2011 (search for exact date) the final renovation works on the area and the Church of Santa Vitalia were carried out.
