Iglesia de San Efisio, Baroque church in Stampace district, Cagliari, Italy.
The iglesia de San Efisio is a small Baroque church on the narrow via Sant'Efisio in Cagliari's Stampace district, next to the parish church of Sant'Anna and just past Santa Restituta. It has a single nave with three chapels on each side. The presbytery, raised a few steps above the floor and closed by a marble balustrade, holds a polychrome marble high altar with the martyr's relics in a wooden reliquary.
The present church was rebuilt in the late 18th century in Baroque style on a 16th-century construction, which in turn stood on a 13th-century church. Beneath it lies a rock-cut crypt that popular devotion identifies as the prison where Saint Efisio was held before being taken to Nora, near today's Pula, to be beheaded; ancient coins found there attest to the age of the site, though the prison identification rests on tradition rather than proof.
In the second chapel on the right stands a 17th-century statue of Saint Efisio, carried in procession to Nora during the May festival. The celebration, held on 1 May, is described as Sardinia's largest: a 65 km religious walk on foot, with traditional costumes from every part of the island.
The underground cave chamber beneath the church floor is currently closed to visitors while undergoing conversion into a museum space. It is helpful to check ahead about any special guided tours or access opportunities that may be available.
The marble altar holds the relics of Saint Efisio in a niche inside a wooden reliquary. In the second chapel on the right stands a 17th-century statue of the saint, carried in procession to Nora during the May festival.
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