The town of Split in Croatia - the cathedral Saint-Domnius

It is one of the smallest cathedrals in the world: the cathedral of Split was in the beginning the mausoleum of the Diocletian Roman Emperor; this mausoleum was converted into church only at the 7th century; later, as from the 12th century, a bell-tower was associated to him and, with 17th, the cathedral was increased by the construction of an apse where the chorus is.

The place located opposite the cathedral Saint-Domnius in the old city of Split, which one names today the Peristyle (Peristil), named formerly Place Saint-Domnius (Pločata Svetog Dujma).

John I of Ravenne (in Croatian Ivan Ravenjanin) was named archbishop of Split after an eleven years interregnum. Since Salone, it made transport in the church the relics of the holy martyrs of the inhabitants of Salone, holy Domnius (Sveti Dujam) and holy Anastase (Sveti Anastazije); soon the cathedral church was devoted to saint Domnius, patron saint of the city; the imperial sarcophagus of Diocletian was moved in one of the turns of the Palace. A kind of posthumous revenge against the ex-emperor who had been one of the wildest persecutors of the Christians and who had made decapitate Domnius in year 304. Jean de Ravenne died in Split towards 680.

The original shape of the mausoleum - an octagone surmounted of a dome and surrounded by an arcade of 24 Corinthian columns - was almost entirely preserved: however, the construction of a bell-tower as from the 12th century brought the destruction of the porch and, at the 17th century, a chorus was coupled east coast of the mausoleum.

The entry is especially remarkable by its door carries of wood of oak and drowning whose two carved leaves represent 28 scenes of the life of Christ, in a naive Byzantine style - near to the cartoons to today - comprehensible by the illiterate populations of the time. The 14 boxes of the casement of left illustrate the life of the Christ of its birth to the resurrection of Lazare; the 14 boxes of the casement of right-hand side cover Passion and the Rise. The boxes are separated by rich ornaments from wood. At the origin, the leaves were of red color and the gilded characters.

These low-reliefs are a work, gone back to 1214, of a sculptor and local painter, Andrija Buvina; they are regarded as one of the jewels of the Romance medieval sculpture, and are among the oldest works of the cathedral.

The sculptures are scraped and scraped in the low parts - who are protected by a pane - but are in very good state in the upper parts.

The interior was purged of its pagan decoration, but always conceals low-reliefs of Diocletian and his Prisca wife on a plank located at the base of the dome. The remainder of decoration testifies to the succession of the styles through the centuries: a mixture of Romanesque art, Gothic sculptures and Rebirth and paintings baroques.

The furnace bridge, placed under a platform in draped stone magnificiently carved, comprises a sarcophagus preserving the bones of the saint. On the front, the sarcophagus carries a cruelly realistic low-relief, the “Scourging of Christ”, showing Jesus whipped and maltreated by persecutors particularly louts; above, the lying one of Anastase saint keeps close to him a stone grinding stone appearing its martyrdom.

The furnace bridge of Anastase saint was carried out by the Master Georges the Dalmatian one (Juraj Matejev Dalmatinac) in 1448, that is to say some twenty years after the furnace bridge of Domnius saint carried out by Bonino; Georges the Dalmatian one preserved the concept and the shape of the work of Bonino. For the exceptional quality of the sculpture, in balance with the decorative elements, and the artistic skill of Juraj Dalmatinac, the low-relief of the “Scourging of Christ” is regarded as one of most beautiful sculptural works of late Gothic style and Rebirth of its time, and one of the tops of Croatian art.

This chapel shelters a second furnace bridge devoted to Domnius saint; this furnace bridge of the 15th century is composed of an old early Christian sarcophagus, which is used as a basis, surmounted of a second sarcophagus who formerly preserved the bones of Domnius saint, initially buried in Salone, then transferred here to the 9th century; this second sarcophagus itself is surmounted by lying of the saint and martyr.

The old early Christian sarcophagus carries a low-relief representing a man with gun dogs. The second sarcophagus and the lying one are the work of the main Milanese sculptor Bonino, carried out in 1427 in the late Gothic style. Bonino da Milano, died with Šibenik in 1429, is also the author of the gate of the cathedral Saint-Jacob de Šibenik and the column of Roland to Dubrovnik.

The chapel above the furnace bridge is decorated murals - of Gothic inspiration - of the local painter Dujam Marinov Vušković (15th century).

The arch which surmounts the high altar has a rich coffered ceiling decorated with ten paintings on the topic of the Old Will, realized in 1639 by the Venetian Master of the time baroque, Matej Pončun (Matteo Ponzoni of its Italian name of origin, 1586-1663).

This chorus baroque of the 17th century is furnished with stalls out of wooden much older: these stalls of Romance style were carved at the beginning of the 13th century; one there notices many details - geometrical interlacings or figurative reasons for animals and plants - which translate the influence of the Lombardic Romance style, but also of Byzantine and even Islamic decoration. These finely carved stalls are oldest of Dalmatia.

The Treasury preserves, in silver bust-reliquaries, the relics of the three holy martyrs and owners of Split: large the reliquary of saint Domnius (sveti Duje) and those of saint Anastase (sveti Anastazije) and of saint Rainier or Arnerius (sveti Rajnerije or Arnir), an archbishop of Split which was lapidated with died in 1180 by the family of pirates of Neretva, Kačić.

The Treasury has also a collection of crowned objets d’art dating from the Early middle ages at the 19th century: liturgical objects, handwritten missals, invaluable church vestments as well as a table of Romance style of the 13th century “the Virgin and the Child”.

Among the manuscripts, the most invaluable parts are the évangéliaire of Split (Splitski Evanđelistar), an illuminated manuscript of the 6th century, the cartulaire of Supetar (Cartularium) of the 11th century, and a “Salonitaine History” (Historia Salonitana), history of the people of Salone and chronicle of the church of Split, a richly decorated manuscript writes at the 13th century by the archdeacon of Split, Thomas (Toma Arciđakon). Historia Salonitana is one of the most important historical sources of the Middle Ages for the study of the history of Split and the whole of Dalmatia.

According to martyrologe, this young Christian woman, girl of noble and very rich family of Syracuse, would have dedicated her life with God, but his/her mother had promised it to an young man; this one learning its vow of chastity and seeing the dowry escaping to him, denounced Lucie with the Roman authorities whereas persecutions against the Christians raged. Lucie would have torn off the eyes of despair and would have sent them to its fiancé on a plate; after long tortures, the persecutors of the Christians would have inserted a sword in the throat to him (holy Lucie is sometimes called upon against the evils of throat…). By miracle, the Virgin Mary would have returned more beautiful eyes to him; this is why holy Lucie is protective blind men; she is celebrated on December 13th, dates to which the hour of the sunset starts again to increase, duration of the day continuing to decrease until December 25th.

It is also the reason for which the crypt - symbol of the darkness - old mausoleum of Diocletian - the persecutor of the Christians as holy Lucie - was devoted to this holy. In the crypt, a miraculous source is supposed to return the sight; on December 13th is an important festival in the local Christian tradition: the crypt is opened with the public, a mass is said, the source of water is blessed, and each one can carry a little holy water.

Unfortunately, the bell-tower crumbled towards the end of the 19th century and had to be rebuilt between 1890 and 1906. The upper floors were rebuilt in style néoroman. Most original Romance sculptures disappeared; however one can still admire - on the first level, on both sides - the low-reliefs of the Annunciation and the Nativity, with the Virgin sheltered by a curtain; they date from the construction of origin at the 13th century and are allotted to the Radovan Master who worked in Trogir at that time.

The less refined low-reliefs holy representative Anastase, holy Domnius and holy Pierre, carry the signature of Master Otto, a Scandinavian sculptor of origin; the scene of hunting in the arch of the chapel of the bell-tower is also allotted to this sculptor.

The Saint John baptistry did not preserve the porch of the temple of origin, but the body preserved some (concealed) and, in particular, its remarkable barrel chapel with boxes. At the 11th century, this chapel had been surmounted by a Romance bell-tower, including three stages, but this bell-tower was demolished around 1840 following the neo-classic tendency of the time. At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1907, one cut down some houses, located on the west coasts and south, in order to give off the building; however there remains the constructions supported against the temple in the north-western angle.

Interesting detail: above two characters a known reason with volutes folded under the name of pluteus runs (plutej); it is a typical reason for the Croatian Romance time which was then adopted like national symbol: one can see this reason on the tapes of the caps of the Croatian police officers.

Just behind the baptismal font a statue is representing a skinny saint Jean-Baptiste; this large bronze statue is a late work of Ivan Meštrović carried out in 1954.

Towards 303, fearing that the quasi divine power of the Roman Emperors was not sapped by the influence of the Christians - who refused to sacrifice to the worship of the pagan gods of the official religion - the Diocletian emperor started a persecution campaign against them. The Domnius bishop and seven other Christians were tortured, and decapitated Domnius, in the amphitheater of Salone, on April 10th, 304. Its body was buried in the northern cemetery of the city.

When the inhabitants of Salone last fled their city, in 614, in front of the invasion of Avars and of Slavic, they settled in Split and proclaimed Domnius patron saint of the city (Sveti Duje or Sveti Dujam). The cathedral was devoted to him. On May 7th is the day of its festival and causes the greatest celebration of the city, with mass in the open air and processions.

Schedules of visit of the bell-tower: from May to September, 9:00 at 19:00; from October to April, 9:00 at 12:00 Tariff: 5 kunas.