The mixed wall texture presents light and dark stone blocks and is the building’s only peculiarity, once hidden under the layers of plaster that are no longer visible today.

Over the centuries, the church underwent significant alterations. The removal of material for the construction of the bridge over the river called Rio Mogoro dates to the 17^th century. However, the most significant transformations occurred in the 20^th century: in 1921 the building was completely rebuilt; in 1979 it was restored thanks to the participation of the local community.

The main characteristic of this church are its dark chromatic tones and its bell tower on the Southern side of the façade.

The partial redesign of the façade dates to the mid-20^th century and is still vivid in the minds of the local community: on that occasion, a number of basaltic blocks were taken from the demolished church of Saint Peter, near the trunk road n.131. Indeed, the stones on the façade appear as an incoherent patchwork and in its lower tier the portal is the only remarkable element. In the same years, the adjacent cemetery was dismantled to make room for the episcopal orphanage, which has never been built.

A thin horizontal cornice marks the upper tier, characterized by the combination of a large curved tympanum and a double bel-gable; the cornice is only interrupted by a central, quadrangular window.

The small church preserves a collection of ex-voto offered to the saints Antiochus and Bernardine, to whom was acknowledged the patronage of Mogoro.

This religious complex is located on the Southern outskirts of Mogoro. The 17^th century convent catches the attention of the observer because of its size, although its most remarkable and ancient element is the adjacent church.

The warm yellow-straw tones of the sandstone give this monument shimmering vibrations, although the current appearance of the church differs from its old image, due to the removal of the original plasters and colors. Its architecture suggests a transition between the Romanesque and Gothic styles: indeed, this small monument merges the structural features of the former with the figurative avant-gardes of the latter. The Gothic language represents a sum of sculptural forms and elements deriving from the Italian tradition, without real structural innovations, especially evident in the external reshaping of the Romanesque apse merged to the quadrangular model of Gothic presbyters, which does not find a correspondence inside the church.

Architecture

Slender fluted lesenes mark three sides of the church; the fourth, located southwards, is shared, with the 17^th century convent. The church’s façade is divided into two tiers: the portal is topped by a semi-circular Romanesque-style lunette and represents the only relevant element of the lower tier; the second tier corresponds to the large triangular tympanum. The two tiers are separated by a horizontal cornice interrupted at the centre by an elegant bifora. The decorators’ craftsmanship is proven by the architectural composition created between the bifora and the cornice: the moldings do not envelop the opening, but fold downwards, to stop shortly afterwards. This pattern is resumed by the arch over the bifora, supported by corbels independent from the cornice. The cornice, as well as the upper part of the tympanum, is enriched by the presence of imaginative decorations, weaves, classic moldings and elliptical ovolos.

Below, a sequence of trilobate ogives leaning on corbels of various shapes characterise the whole decorative program. Along the façade and in the lunettes’ abacuses sculpture groups are set; however, their interpretation is currently compromised by their sandstone’s degeneration.

The secondary portal is enclosed by fluted pilasters and located in the middle of the northwards front. Unlike the main portal, it is crowned by an ogive, probably an evidence of later works. Along the side wall, as a continuation of the decoration on the façade, trilobate ogives can be seen. In the spaces enclosed by the fluted pilasters, four monofora windows open. The decorative scheme is interrupted in the Northern side of the convent since there are no pilasters; the quadrilateral apse, above which there is a monofora window, is the only remarkable element; along the upper tier the trilobate ogives still appear.

The interior of the church has a single nave, covered with a wooden roof, culminating with the semi-circular presbytery.

Designed by an expert designer, this church can be compared to some other examples in Sardinia’s architectural panorama of the 14^th century. Its hybrid architectural style merging Romanesque and Gothic, as well as its decorative elements, which recall the nearby church of Saint Gregory in Sardara. The sanctuary of our Lady of Valverde, in Iglesias, is a fitting comparison for the large bifora on the façade and for the sequence of trilobate ogives. However, the church in Iglesias presents a modest decoration, that might indicate the church in Mogoro could have been a primitive reference model.

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The Palazzo Paderi estate reached a significant extension so to include most of the block opposite the parish church. In the 20^th century, different issues related to their inheritance led to the fragmentation of the property and the alteration of the original architectural features of the house. A bird’s eye view on the block would allow to distinguish the main building, parallel to the road and divided into two floors and several segments. A large courtyard now occupied by buildings was meant to separate the house from the road to the village. Side alleys open new and unexpected views on what remains of the old property.