The modern town of Dolianova, called Patiolla in the Sardinian language, was born in 1905 after the union of two different villages: San Pantaleo and Sicci San Biagio. Dolianova is the most important center of Parteolla district - since Sardinia is subdivided into several historical regions – located in the Province of South Sardinia.
The town’s economy is mainly based on agriculture. Not by chance the town probably takes its name from the Latin Pars Olea - which means “place of oil” - as the territory has always been suited to olives cultivation since ancient times.
The first evidence of human presence around the territory of Dolianova dates back to the Neolithic Age (4th millennium BC) even if the most relevant archaeological findings go back to the Nuragic period, starting from the middle Bronze Age (1600 BC).
The first documents regarding Dolia date to 1089 - during the Judicial period – when the monasteries of St. George and St. Constantine were edified by the will of Arzone, the Judje of Cagliari. Under the name Dolia Dolianova was the seat of an important diocese which was suppressed in 1503 when it was embedded in the Diocese of Cagliari. At the end of the era of Giudicati the village of San Pantaleo become a fief of Suelli's bishop while the small village of Sicci fell under the Aragonese rule and it was turned into a baronage assigned to Raimondo de Amburra and then to the dukes of Mandas.
The greater evidence of the importance of the Diocese of Dolia is definitely the Cathedral of St. Pantaleo. This beautiful medieval church represents an unique example of Romanic architectonic building in Sardinia. It was edified with local sandstones in three phases by using several architectonic elements and decorations. The façade and the flanking high bell tower, the sides and the apse are decorated with different sculpture motifs such as gemetrical patterns, human figures and mythological animals. Worthy of note, in particular, is the architrave on the main entrance's portal which depects a snake in the reeds. The interior has a nave and two aisles divided by arches on pillars surmounted by elaborate capitals with plants and anthropomorphic decorations. The south-east oriented apse is decorated by a frescoe of great value representing Jesus with his apostles. But the more important frescoe is the “Arbor Vitae” depecting the tree of life with Jesus crucified in the middle of the painting.
Also the current borough of Sicci has its important church dedicated to St. Biagio. The church was built in the late Gothic style in the 14th century but it was damaged and rebuilt several times. The interior has a central nave with lateral chapels and a wooden cover. The façade retains some ancient elements – after the rebuilding in 1782 – such as the beautiful late Gothic rose window.
Since the unification in 1905 had left inalterated the traditional religious feasts, St. Biagio and St. Pantaleo are now the two patrons of Dolianova.
Nowadays Dolianova is therefore a nice welcoming small town rich in culture and history, living in a perfect blend of modernity and tradition. Its economy – driven by the agri-food sector – is fast growing and its products are now known and exported not only to Italy but also worldwide, thanks to the competence and deep passion of its entrepreneurs.
Dolianova is all this and much more just waiting to be explored.
