The church of San Pietro di Sorres takes its name from the village of the same name which no longer exists. In a strategic site with traces of Nuragic, Punic, Roman and Byzantine settlements, it stands magnificent on the volcanic promontory.
The construction in Tuscan-Romanesque style can be traced to between the XI and XII centuries; indeed, from 1112, this place of worship was attested as the episcopal see and cathedral for the Diocese of Sorres until its suppression in 1503, due to the depopulation of the town.
The west-facing facade is divided into orders by blind arches decorated with Tuscan-style diamonds. “Mariane maistro” is carved into the step on the threshold of the west portal probably indicating the craftsman responsible for the work. The sides and apse are decorated with suspended arches, while the elevation of the central nave features the alternating two-tone of the sandstone and trachyte ashlars.
The facade reveals the internal subdivision into three naves internally defined with rounded arches supported by cruciform pillars which repeat the external two-tone colour. The longitudinal layout is finished off with a raised presbytery with a series of steps and semicircular sandstone apse with two-tone semi-dome and finished off with just trachyte.
The twentieth-century monastery, and home since 1953 to a Benedictine community, stands to the right of the church.
