Convent of N.S. of Bonaria

The Sanctuary of “Our Lady of Bonaria” is a complex in the city of Cagliari located in Bonaria Square on the top of the homonymous hill. It is the most important sanctuary in Sardinia for the Catholic church, consisting of a small church flanked by a larger temple, raised to the title of Pontifical Minor Basilica by Pius XI in 1926. The Sanctuary of the Virgin of Bonaria is officiated by the Mercedarian fathers, who live in the adjacent convent, and is the parish seat of the Bonaria district. The Order of “Santa Maria della Mercede” is an order of the Catholic church. The order was founded by San Pietro Nolasco who, having seen the condition of many Christian slaves in his travels, dedicated himself, with some companions, to the liberation of those oppressed brothers.