Chiesa di Santa Maria di Cea

The church of Santa Maria di Cea, originally "di Seve," is a country church located in the territory of Banari, a town in northwestern Sardinia. Consecrated to Catholic worship, it belongs to the parish of San Lorenzo, archdiocese of Sassari.

The church was originally a Vallombrosian place of worship dependent on St. Michael of Salvenero and was located near the ancient village of Seve - a small town situated in a fertile valley traversed by the permanent stream of Badu de Corte - recorded by the Sassarese humanist and historian Giovanni Francesco Fara among those of the diocese of Ploaghe that disappeared.

The building, located about six kilometers from the town of Banari, has been dated to the second half of the 12th century and consists of a single nave accessed through two entrances: a side entrance and the main one for the faithful. This devotion perhaps coincided with the return of Vallombrosian influences to the area. The hermitage was indeed definitively confirmed to this congregation in the early 15th century and elevated to abbey status in 1474.

The facade, made of squared limestone ashlars, is slightly asymmetrical and is divided at about half height by a slightly projecting string-course cornice. The lower register is embellished with pseudocapitels with floral motifs, while a wide ribbed belfry with a semicircular light rises at the top.

The complex, consisting of the church, hermitage and inner courtyard, was the subject of archaeological investigation in 1990 by the competent Superintendency.