St. John Evangelist (Rab)
The St. John Evangelist Church is a ruined church in Rab in Croatia .
history
In the 5th century AD, a three-aisled basilica with a semicircular apse , which was built on the site of an important old public building, stood on the site of the St. John Evangelist Church .
The early Romanesque church, which today only exists in parts, was probably built in the 10th and 11th centuries when the Benedictines came to Rab. The current apse with five buttresses was built over the ruined early Christian church. The church is mentioned in writing by Benedictines at the end of the 12th century. They gave up this in the second half of the 13th century. In 1278 the Bishop of Rab and the chronicler Gregor Hermolais handed them over to the Franciscans . When the order was divided in the middle of the 15th century, the order remained in the possession of the Franciscans of the Minorites . They finally left the monastery in 1783, which meant that the order was no longer present on Rab. The diocese of Rab was abandoned in the 1820s, and the church has fallen into disrepair ever since. The inventory was transferred to other Rab churches.
The western part of the monastery building was completely removed. At this point, the Ban of Posavina built a mansion using the building materials from the rest of the monastery and the church. The roof of the church collapsed at the end of the 19th century.
From 1991 to 1995 restoration work was carried out on the bell tower and the nave. The early Christian mosaics, capitals, stone relics and other works of art were removed and secured.
In 2007, the Church of St. John the Evangelist was featured in the national news after two fourteen-year-old girls committed suicide by jumping off the bell tower.
architecture
From the original church from the 5th century, only small mosaic remains in the altar area and in the side aisle as well as characteristic meander ornaments along the inner edge of the apse have survived . There is also a chest-shaped stone relic.
The Romanesque church had three naves. The main nave was more than twice as wide as the side aisles.
The ambulatory from the 11th century is the only one in Croatia. It consists of seven columns (one of which is polygonal , serves as an outer pillar and probably dates back to the 5th century), which are connected by six semicircular arches. The pillars are decorated with acanthus plants and palm leaves. Seven arches connect the pillars to the inside of the apse. These are based on flat imposts that are simply cut at an angle . From the second half of the 12th century there is an inscription on the lintel with the names of the masters Mundo and Radavito.
The Romanesque, 20-meter-high bell tower was built in 1181 at the end of the south wall and near the altar and has been rebuilt over the centuries. It served as an observation post over the city and the open sea. On the first floor there was a small chapel for relics. In 1471 the tower was partially renewed and rebuilt by the builders Ilija and Marko.
In the 15th century, the sculptor Aleši, a collaborator of Giorgio da Sebenico , built the first chapels in the church for the Scaff and Cernotta families.
The remains of the Romanesque bell tower, the foundations and parts of the pillars as well as the restored Romanesque ambulatory are preserved from the former basilica. The cloister can be found in the western part of the monastery and the chapter house lined with cross vaults in the south .
Web links
- STARE CRKVE OTOKA RABA . In: GRAY EVINAR . No. 61 , 2010, p. 974 f . ( Croatian information on the Rab churches [PDF; 2.2 MB ; accessed on September 14, 2019]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ CRKVA SV. IVANA EVANĐELIST. rab-croatia.com, accessed on September 14, 2019 (Croatian).
- ↑ Rab: Dvije djevojčice (14) bacile se sa zvonika crkve. www.24sata.hr, November 28, 2007, accessed on September 14, 2019 (Croatian).
- ↑ Četiri zvonika grada Raba. hkm.hr, accessed on September 14, 2019 (Croatian).
Coordinates: 44 ° 45 ′ 23.6 " N , 14 ° 45 ′ 34.3" E