“At least 600 years old, on the top of a mountain, at the edge of a cliff, a quarter of an hour over steep and rugged trails,” were the few concise words that said it all. They were pronounced by the mayor of Chiaramonti in 1827 to justify and finalise the definitive abandon of the “uncomfortable” parish of San Matteo. It had been built around the beginning of the 16th century over the remains of the fortifications of a castle built by Brancaleone Doria, the husband of Eleonora d’Arborea. The imposing church on the fort had been repeatedly sacked by raiders, and so the mayor had a new parish church built in the centre of town.

The history of the grand manor has been forgotten, it is no longer a church and not even a fortress coveted by men greedy for power. It has now become an oasis of peace steeped in history, reachable on foot from the centre of Chiaramonti, an ancient little village in Anglona on the border with Sassari and Logudoro.