Chiesa di Nostra Signora del Carmine, Cagliari

Nostra Signora del Carmine is a parish church in Cagliari, located on Viale Trieste, in the lower part of Stampace, a short distance from Piazza del Carmine. The temple is officiated by the Carmelite fathers who dwell in the adjacent convent.

The present church of Carmine was erected in the 1950s over the remains of the 16th-century Carmelite complex, which was destroyed by bombing in 1943. The old church was a fine example of Catalan-Gothic architecture and featured the interesting Ripoll chapel inside, which was one of the first and few buildings inspired by Renaissance canons in Cagliari. Some stone fragments from the chapel were recovered and are now preserved in the new church.

The latter was built in the Neo-Romanesque style. The severe salient facade is adorned in the lower part, characterized by the two-color banded facing, by a splayed portal surmounted by the statue of the Virgin and an oculus, while in the upper, more essential part, ten single-lancet windows open. Flanking the building is the tall square-bore bell tower, surmounted by a pyramid with a bronze statue of the Virgin, by Franco d'Aspro, on the apex. The interior has three naves, divided by pillars and round arches. The roofs are wooden.

Some walls of the building are adorned with mosaics by artist Aligi Sassu, made in 1966, depicting subjects related to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Carmelite order. The semicircular apse wall depicts the prophet Elijah between two angels, Hell and Purgatory. At the base of the same wall are portraits of the pontiffs who supported the Carmelite order, while in the bowl of the apse is depicted Our Lady in the act of giving the scapular to St. Simon Stock. Above the apse arch is the mosaic of the Glory of Christ, with Carmelite angels and saints. Other mosaics, depicting Our Lady of Sorrows, Pope Pius XII and Pope Paul VI, are located in the aisles.