Pabillonis, Pabillonis in the Sardinian language, is a comune (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, about northwest of Cagliari and about west of Sanluri.
Pabillonis borders the following municipalities: Gonnosfanadiga, Guspini, Mogoro, San Gavino Monreale, San Nicolò d'Arcidano, Sardara.
Physical geography
It is located in the centre-north of the Campidano plain, more precisely north of the "Pranu Murdegu", near the confluence of two waterways called Flumini Mannu and Flumini Bellu. It is mainly an agricultural village.
The village develops around the church of San Giovanni, once a country church and chapel of an old cemetery on which currently stands a square.
Origin of the toponym
The origin of the name derives from the Latin "Papilio-ionis" meaning Roman military camps set up on site (in English they are the so-called "pavilions"). In Sardinian the term has evolved into "Pabillone", "Papigione", "Papidzone" or "Pabunzone" to indicate a woodshed and, in some cases, even shelter for animals. This term, however, is widespread in the center-north of Sardinia, while it is not reflected in the local dialect of Pabillonis as to define the shelter of animals is used "Coratzu" and "Sa domu de sa linna" is the generic definition of the place where it was acatastated firewood. In the 1388 documents establishing the peace between Aragon and Arborea, the village is named as "Paviglionis", "Pavigionis" and "Panigionis".
History
The first evidence of man in the territories of Pabillonis date back to the Neolithic period (6th – 3rd millennium BC), in fact it is often possible to find fragments of worked obsidian. The massive presence of these findings suggest the presence of numerous villages at the water springs and rivers. No trace of typical Neolithic monuments has yet been found. However, it is probable that man lived in these areas even in the Eneolithic. The nuragic civilization has left as testimony the nuraghe "Surbiu" (completely destroyed), the nuraghe Santu Sciori, "Nuraxi Fenu" and the nuraghe "Domu'e Campu".
Originally the village stood a couple of kilometers from the current location, the ruins are located near the rural church of San Lussorio, near the banks of the Flumini Mannu (more formerly Ptolemy refers to "Rivus Sacer" "sacred" or "Hierus") where the waters of the Rio Piras and Riu Bruncu Fenugu meet. The homonymous nuraghe (Santu Sciori) and a Roman bridge (still standing) called Su ponti de sa baronessa testify to the ancient origins of the village. During the Middle Ages it belonged to the giudicato of Arborea and more precisely to the curatorial office of Bonorzuli, the ancient centre was destroyed by the Saracens and rebuilt in its current position. At the fall of the judiciary (1420) it became part of the marquisate of Oristano, and from 1478, at its final defeat, it passed under the Aragonese dominion. The Aragonese incorporated the town into the county of Quirra, which was transformed into a marquisate in 1603, together with the barony of Monreale. Also in the Aragonese period, the town was first a feud of the Carroz, then of the Centelles and finally of the Osorio de la Cueva, to whom it was redeemed in 1839 with the suppression of the feudal system. In 1584 it was sacked by the Moors and the town was abandoned, the historian Vittorio Angius wrote: "... the barbarians were led there by a Sardinian renegade, [...], except for the people saved by the escape, the others were massacred or taken in slavery".
In 1934, during the fascist period, the reclamation of the marshes around the Flumini Mannu was carried out. On 5, 7, and 8 September 1943, the Pabillonis airfield in the Foddi region was bombed by a total of 112 P-40 planes from the 325th Allied Forces group. The fighter bombers dropped 20-pound bombs on the airfield and other targets. This was the last act of the war in Sardinia. A few hours later Badoglio officially announced Italy's exit from the conflict.
Monuments and places of interest
Religious architectures
Beata Vergine della Neve
The parish church of the Beata Vergine della Neve (Blessed Virgin of Snow) is the building with the most artistic vestiges. Built in the sixteenth century with a rectangular plan with three naves, the interior preserves frescoes. The simple façade is composed of a portal surrounded by pilasters. Inside the church there is a wooden tabernacle of the seventeenth century attributed to Giovanni Angelo Puxeddu.
San Giovanni Battista
San Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist) is the oldest of the churches of Pabillonis, dating from the twelfth century and was part of the old cemetery.