A stop along the Cammino di Santu Jacu, a spiritual path that touches the places devoted to Saint James the Great, stands in the small village of Nughedu Santa Vittoria and reveals only a few clues about its history: two dates engraved inside it, while another source has been lost. Equal amounts of charm and mystery linger in the parish church dedicated to Saint James, in Gothic-Aragonese style, built using red trachyte. Vittorio Angius transcribed the content of an epigraph, which was kept in the choir at that time and has now disappeared, that mentioned the name of the 'procurator' and the year 1634, probably referring to the end of the construction work inside the sanctuary. The same date is found on the keystone of the presbytery, while on the façade, the date 1674 can be read on a shield that stands out in the tympanum of the portal. Some, however, consider it to be a reconstruction of a building that already existed in the 16th century.
The church dominates a large square. On the façade, you can admire a large rose window, similar to that of the churches of San Gavino in Gavoi, Santa Maria della Guardia in Ardauli and San Mauro in Sorgono. The façade is square in shape and ends with a flat crowning element with trident merlons. A notched cornice separates the upper order, dominated by the rose window, and the lower one, in which the portal has a curvilinear broken tympanum above it. Various elements typical of Gothic-Aragonese architecture embellish the single-nave hall, punctuated by pointed arches. The side chapels are barrel-vaulted, the quadrangular capilla mayor, which is lower and narrower than the nave, is connected to the church hall by a pointed arch. The presbytery, on the other hand, has a cross vault.
The saint is celebrated on 25 July, while the following day is the celebration of Sant’Anna: a single procession generally takes place. The parish church of the town overlooking Lake Omodeo also welcomes pilgrims on a journey following the Cammino di Santu Jacu, along the route that leads north to Porto Torres. In the Nughedi countryside, there is another place of worship, where hospitality towards pilgrims has always been shown for centuries: about a kilometre and a half north of the town stands the country church of San Basilio that probably also dates back to the seventeenth century. Next to it, there is a row of muristenes, stone lodgings used to accommodate the novena participants.
Nughedu Santa Vittoria is also worth a visit due to its nature and archaeological heritage: don't miss the domus de janas in the necropolis of sas Arzolas de Goi, decorated with engravings and paintings, and the oasis of Assai: in a forest populated by deer, wild boar and fallow deer, there is a wildlife museum located inside an ancient shepherds’ refuge.