Its foundations tell a story, which is older than what you see at first glance, made of legends, abandonments and the ‘secular’ reuse of it. The Church of San Leonardo is the oldest place of worship in Masullas, a municipality in the Alta Marmilla area, in a scenic position at the foot of Monte Arci. There are no documents attesting to the building and consecration of the church, but its construction features have led to the theory that it dates back to around the mid-13th century. During a recent renovation phase, the foundations of a pre-existing place of worship, perhaps from the Byzantine era, were discovered. The current building was constructed on top of the previous one, respecting its structure and orientation: a longitudinal layout, with a single nave and a semicircular apse facing north-east. Sandstone and trachyte blocks were used for its construction. You can see them on the façade, decorated with small false loggias, where a mullioned window and a large bell gable stand out, as well as the entrance portal – along the same axis – with a monolithic architrave and a relieving arch.

The church hall has a wooden roof, capitals with plant decorations on the south wall and the image of a face carved into the centring of a single-lancet window in the apse. You will feel like you are in an intimate and cosy environment, also thanks to the simplicity of the furnishings. According to local tradition, the church contains the tombs of two martyrs, one of whom is Saint Callixtus, a pontiff in the first decades of the 3rd century. The origin of this legend lies in the fact that the church was part of the possessions of the then flourishing Vallombrosian Abbey of Thamis, the ruins of which are now located in the territory of Uras. The monastic order was in close contact with the German abbey of Fulda, to which the martyr’s remains, or at least part of them, were apparently transferred. Thanks to the cult of relics venerated by the Vallombrosian monks and the close relationship between the two abbeys, Saint Callixtus's remains finally reached the church, where some say that two sarcophagi were embedded in the walls. The church then went through a phase of abandonment and use as a monte granatico (wheat bank), after which it underwent initial restoration work in 1859.

The journey from the Middle Ages in Masullas to the Savoy period continues with a visit to the nearby museum of ‘I CavalierI delle Colline’ (Knights of the Hills), with an exhibition that focuses on the rural aristocracy of the ancient curatoria (administrative division) of Parte Montis, which the village of Masullas belonged to. Also not to be missed is the GeoMuseo located inside the former Capuchin convent. Among the fossils, agates, crystals and volcanic rocks, the ‘black gold’ of Monte Arci stands out, which was traded as early as the Neolithic period: in fact, the Conca ‘e Cannas obsidian park, the largest deposit cultivated in the Nuragic era, falls within the territory of Masullas. The surroundings lend themselves to fascinating excursions in nature: you can walk through the Taraxi forest and admire the rock face of su Columbariu, the pillow (underwater lava outcrop) of su Carongiu de Fanari and sa Perda Sperrada, a mass of rock almost perfectly split in half.