The Church of Saint Anthony of Padua ( sh, Crkva svetog Ante Padovanskog, script=Latn/) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

place of worship and a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spe ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

, the capital city of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. It is dedicated to the Franciscan friar

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was bo ...

Preceding buildings

The present Church of Saint Anthony of Padua was preceded by two places of worship dedicated to the same saint and built on the same site. The former was constructed in 1853 as the first Catholic church in Sarajevo since 1697, when the church dedicated to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother ...

, in the same neighbourhood, burned down during the Sack of Sarajevo by

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

. The newly built church received crosses, a canopy, an altar, a chalice and other eucharistic objects from the French empress

Eugénie de Montijo '' Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Nap ...

in 1864. The church burned down in a great fire of Sarajevo in 1879. Another building was constructed in 1881, but it was small and humble, made almost entirely of wood and

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

. As the only Catholic church in the city, it was ceded by the

Bosnian Franciscans Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena (also ''Bosna Argentina''; officially la, Provincia OFM Exaltationis S. Crucis - Bosna Argentina) is a province of the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their headquarters ...

to the first

Archbishop of Vrhbosna The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vrhbosna (also known as the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sarajevo) is an ecclesiastical archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Its territorial remit includes the eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entiret ...

Josip Štadler Josip Stadler (24 January 1843 – 8 December 1918) was a Roman Catholic priest, the first Archbishop of Vrhbosna, the founder of the religious order of the Servants of the Infant Jesus ( hr, Služavke Maloga Isusa), and one of the main i ...

, who used it as his residence from 1881 until the consecration of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in 1889. The old church was returned to the Franciscan friars. It was not, however, built to endure for long. By 1905, it had deteriorated to the point where it had to be closed.

Architecture and art

The demolition of the old church took place in 1912. A new building, an example of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, was designed by Josip Vancaš and erected in its place by the end of the same year. The tower took two more years, however, and the church was not consecrated until September 1914. The present interior of the church dates from the 1960s. Featuring works of the sculptors

Frano Kršinić Frano Kršinić (24 July 1897 – 1 January 1982) was a Croatian sculptor active in former Yugoslavia. Along with Ivan Meštrović and Antun Augustinčić, he is considered one of the three most important Croatian sculptors of the 20th centur ...

and

Iva Despić-Simonović Ivana "Iva" Despić (; sr-cyr, Ивана "Ива" Деспић, ; 15 August 1891 – 12 July 1961) was a Yugoslav sculptor. Born in Croatia, Despić-Simonović was educated in Zagreb, Paris and Munich. From 1920 until her death she lived ...

, and painters

Gabrijel Jurkić Gabrijel Jurkić (24 March 1886 – 25 February 1974) was a Bosnian Croat artist.Lončarević, Vladimir. 2016. ''Gabrijel Jukić - slikar Božje ljubavi''. Glas koncila (print edition). 2016-03/04. Nr. 14 (2016.), p. 21 He was born in Livno, ...

Đuro Seder Đuro Seder (29 November 1927 – 2 May 2022) was a Croatian painter. He lived and worked in Zagreb. Career At the beginning of his career he worked as an illustrator, image editor, and designer at various magazines. He was one of the founding me ...

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavle Bilinić's ...

Edo Murtić Edo Murtić (4 May 1921 – 2 January 2005) was a painter from Croatia, best known for his lyrical abstraction and abstract expressionism style. He worked in a variety of media, including oil painting, gouache, graphic design, ceramics, mosaic ...

Nada Pivac Nada may refer to: Culture * Nāda, a concept in ancient Indian metaphysics Places * Nada, Hainan, China *Nada, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Nada, Nepal, village in Achham District, Seti Zone * Nada, Texas, United ...

, and

Oton Gliha Oton Gliha (Črnomelj, 21 May 1914 - Zagreb, 19 July 1999) was a Croatian artist, born in Slovenia. A graduate of the Academy of fine Arts in Zagreb, Gliha continued his studies in Paris, Vienna and Munich. He is best known for his series of abs ...

, among others, the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua is one of artistically most important churches in

. The adjacent monastery, built in 1894, houses the main archive of the

Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena (also ''Bosna Argentina''; officially la, Provincia OFM Exaltationis S. Crucis - Bosna Argentina) is a province of the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their headquarters a ...

. The church survived the shelling during the 1992–1996

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav ...

remarkably unscathed, with significant damage being done only to the façade and the stained glass windows. The restoration was completed in the autumn of 2006.

Present status

While the monastery church is not presently a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, it is significant as a shrine of Saint Anthony. Unique among the numerous churches in Sarajevo, the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua claims to be the "church of all Sarajevans", boasting regular

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

attendees. The Church of Saint Anthony of Padua, along with the adjoining Franciscan monastery, is a

of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Gallery

06Sarajevo Antoniuskirche5.jpg, A

depiction Depiction is reference conveyed through pictures. A picture refers to its object through a non-linguistic two-dimensional scheme, and is distinct from writing or notation. A depictive two-dimensional scheme is called a picture plane and may be cons ...

of the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

Saint Anthony of Padua's Church in Sarajevo.jpg, Front view of the exterior

References

External links

* {{coord, 43.855976, 18.431582, type:landmark_region:BA-BIH, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Sarajevo Josip Vancaš buildings National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina