Greca

Saint Greca of Decimomannu lived in Sardinia and is regarded by the Catholic Church as a virgin and martyr. According to her passio, whose truthfulness is doubtful, she was a young woman of Decimomannu in the 3rd or 4th century, in the time of Diocletian. She was arrested and imprisoned for not renouncing her faith, whipped, and then three nails were driven into her forehead. Remaining unshaken, she was beheaded on 12 January 304.

No sources prove her martyrdom; her cult is attested from the 14th century, in documents about the convent at Decimo, and a document of 1413 calls her "martyr". In 1610 the Bishop of Cagliari had excavations made at Decimomannu, and a gravestone of the 4th or 5th century was found. The beginning of the inscription was first read as "blessed martyr", but most epigraphists now think it means "of good memory". It is not known whether "Greca" (that is, "the Greek woman") was her real name. The epitaph says that she was buried on 12 January; the year 304 comes from later tradition.

Half of her skeleton remains at Decimomannu, and the other half was taken to the Crypt of the Martyrs in the cathedral of Cagliari. In 1777 a chapel was built over the tomb. She is patron of Decimomannu, where she is commemorated on 12 January, on 1 May and on the last Sunday of September, when a great pilgrimage takes place. She is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.