AMPRUAS and TEMPIO, DIOCESE OF. – In Sardinia, in the province of Sassari. It encompasses the north-eastern territory of the island, approximately within the triangle formed by the Sardinian archipelago and the gulfs of Terranova and Asinara. It has 76,308 Catholic inhabitants, 30 parishes and 72 diocesan priests. The current administrative arrangement of these two united dioceses is of rather recent date, but their foundation is ancient. The bishop resides in Tempio Pausania.
In this part of Sardinia there were bishops of Fausania (end of the 6th century) and of A. (beginning of the 12th century). A. disappeared due to the flooding of the Coghinas, and Julius II transferred its see to Castelaragonese (Castelsardo) in 1503; three years later he united this with Fausania (Pausania, Civita, Olbia). When T. became a city, Gregory XVI suppressed the cathedral of Civita and founded that of T., deciding that the bishop of the two dioceses should bear the title of A. and T.
Among the artistic monuments of the diocese, at Tergu, where there was a Benedictine monastery, there still remains the fine Pisan-style temple (11th century) with Romanesque-Tuscan architectural lines. At S. Pietro delle Immagini, where there was also a Benedictine monastery, one admires the church, a jewel of Pisan art; it is in the shape of a Latin cross with a tall, slender façade, striped in white and black, with small columns, pilasters, capitals and small arches. Perfugas had two Benedictine monasteries: the church of S. Giorgio is still preserved, with a pointed façade (14th century); the high altar has a magnificent polyptych with a frame of biforas, rose windows, small columns and small arches. At Olbia one admires the cathedral of S. Simplicio, of Romanesque forms, from the 11th century.