Split Cathedral

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The tower of the cathedral

The Cathedral of St. Domnius (Croatian: Katedrala Svetog Duje, Sveti Dujam or Sveti Duje , Italian: Duomo di San Doimo ) in Split in Croatia is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Split-Makarska . It is located in Diocletian's Palace on Peristyle Square . The church, built in the 4th century, is dedicated to St. Domnius and is considered one of the oldest cathedrals in the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Split-Makarska .

Bust of Diocletian in the cellar vaults in Diocletian's Palace Split

history

Today's Split Cathedral was originally built as the mausoleum of Emperor Diocletian . Immediately after his death, in 313, the Milan Agreement granted all Christians the right to exercise their religion freely: “Christians, and all people in general, have free authority to adhere to the religion that everyone chooses for himself”. The Christians then built several basilicas on the graves of Christian martyrs in Salona , the then administrative center of the province of Dalmatia not far from Split , which became centers of the cult of saints and attracted many pilgrims .

The peristyle, Robert Adam , 1764

In the 7th century destroyed the Avars and Slavs Salona. The survivors fled to the surrounding islands. Much later returned and populated the abandoned imperial palace. The imperial mausoleum was converted into a Christian church , the pagan symbols were removed, as was the sarcophagus in which the emperor rested. From the destroyed basilicas in Salona they brought the bones of the martyrs who had been murdered by the emperor Diocletian to the palace: the bones of the first bishop Salonas Domnius and of Anastasius, an ordinary worker. Archdeacon Thomas, a chronicler of the 13th century, mentions Ivan Revnjanin as the first archbishop of Split in the 7th century, he organized and established the church in Split.

The great gate of the cathedral was completed in 1214 by the local master and artist Andrija Buvina . He decorated the walnut gate with carvings showing 28 scenes from the life of Jesus. The gate is well preserved except for the lower section, which has been damaged by visitor traffic. The gate is very valuable to the European cultural heritage as wooden gates from this period have been destroyed over the centuries, while the typical bronze gates are quite well preserved.

description

The cathedral has the shape of an octagon with a covered peripteros . The 24 marble columns have Corinthian capitals . The portal of the cathedral dates from antiquity. On the baroque stone slab with the tiara at the end, the metropolitan and primatial status of the church is emphasized, which the archbishopric had until the proclamation of the papal bull Locum Beati Petri in 1828. Above the portal is a small sarcophagus with the remains of the daughters of King Bélas IV , Katarina and Margarita, who perished in the attack of the Tatars on Klis in the 13th century.

The interior is round and covered by a dome with angular and semicircular niches . Originally sculptures of emperors and gods were placed in the niches. The room is surrounded by eight granite columns on bases made of Dalmatian limestone, crowned by Corinthian capitals . The pillars only have a decorative function. Above the richly decorated capitals there are wreaths as the basis for the second column order made of porphyry . These columns also have Corinthian capitals and somewhat smaller wreaths. Above it is a frieze with portraits of Mercury as a psychopompos (companion of the soul in the realm of the dead) and medallions with Emperor Diocletian and his wife, Empress Prisca . To the left of the entrance is the hexagonal pulpit (ambon), which was built in 1257 as a gift from Princess Kolafisa. It was built by Master Mavro from the precious black and green poryphor, which in all likelihood comes from the destroyed sarcophagus of Diocletian. The pulpit stands on six columns made of local marble with different capitals.

In the 15th century, two stone altars with cibories were erected in two niches to the right and left of the main altar . The right altar is dedicated to St. Domnius. The Italian master Bonino da Milano had it built in the form of a sarcophagus in 1427. On it is a portrait of St. Domnius in solemn official costume, his head resting on the aureole , above three angels who are wearing a curtain. In 1429 Dujam Vušković decorated the interior of the ciborium with late Gothic frescoes . In the second half of the 18th century the new altar was built; he was consecrated to St. Joseph . During the renovation in 1958, the baroque antependium was removed and an antique sarcophagus with the image of the Good Shepherd ( Pastor Bonus ) was discovered. On the sarcophagus is the cafeteria with a verse inscription from the 13th century.

The left altar is dedicated to St. Anastasius, one of the patron saints of the city of Split. Built has him Juraj Dalmatinac in 1448, also in the form of a sarcophagus with the gisant . On the antependium there is a realistic relief of the flogging of Christ based on a drawing by Donatello . The Venetian sculptor Giovanni Maria Morlaiter erected an altar in the north niche of the cathedral in 1767. In 1770 the Domnius relics were deposited there. On the frontal of the altar there is a relief in the Rococo style , on the beheading of St. Duje is shown. Above the altar is a cycle of pictures with scenes from the life of Mary , a work by the Venetian artist of Flemish descent Pietra de Costera . The main altar was built between 1687 and 1689. Above the altar there is a carved paneled ceiling. The oil paintings on it have Eucharistic themes and are the work of the painter Matije Ponzoni , who painted them on behalf of his brother Archbishop Sforza Ponzonis .

Archbishop Markantun de Dominis initiated the extension of the choir at the end of the 17th century . In the course of the construction, the eastern wall of the mausoleum was torn down. This damaged the shape of the peripteros, but made the cathedral larger. In the choir are elaborately carved wooden benches and an archbishop's throne and six large oil paintings from the life of St. Domnius by Pietro Melchiorre Ferrari and a wooden crucifix from the second half of the 14th century in the form of a Greek Y .

Bell tower

The campanile of St. Domnius is one of the best preserved on the entire Adriatic coast and, with its six floors, one of the tallest structures in medieval Dalmatia. The heights vary between 57 and 61 meters. Construction began in the 13th and lasted until the middle of the 16th century. Because of the long construction period, there is a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic style elements .

The campanile is an extravagant building , slender, narrowed stepped upwards, with openwork walls, biforas and blind arcades. The architectural feature is also the adaptation to the antique environment: in the form of the capitals , the window openings and arches , based on the arcades of the peristyle and the entablature of the peripteros.

The first builders and planners of the bell tower are unknown. In the 15th century Nikola Tvrdoje directed the resumed work. The construction of the tower was not only supported by the residents of Split, other donors were the Croatian-Hungarian King Béla IV and his wife Marija as well as Prince Frankopan and his wife Kolafisa.

The bell tower was completely restored between 1890 and 1908 according to the plans of the Viennese architect Alois Hauser. After his death Emil Föster took over the construction management. The work was carried out by the builder Andrija Perišić. The last floor with Renaissance features was thoroughly modified and "harmonized" with the floors below in a historicizing way. The numerous ancient spolia and sculptures of griffon (birds of prey), lions and sphinxes have been removed. Some components are kept in the Museum of the City of Split, others were built into the Tusculum in Salona .

Inside the campanile, a staircase leads to a viewing platform that offers a good view of the city and the Adriatic harbor. The ascent is a bit difficult, especially in the narrow lower part when there is a lot of people. Admission is charged for the ascent.

literature

  • Christian Forster: The bell tower of the cathedral of Split and the Mongol invasion of Dalmatia in 1242 . In: INSITU 2017/2. ISSN 1866-959X, pp. 175-194.

Web links

Commons : Split Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Biography of Domnius von Salona
  2. Diocletian the misunderstood emperor
  3. Mali vodič kroz splitsku katedralu ( Memento of the original from March 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pujanke.hr




Coordinates: 43 ° 30 ′ 29.1 ″  N , 16 ° 26 ′ 25.8 ″  E