The Church of St. Demetrius ( hr, Crkva svetog Dimitrija, sr-Cyrl, Црква светог Димитрија) is a Serbian Orthodox church in Dalj in eastern Croatia, and the cathedral of the

Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranja Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranja (Serbian Cyrillic: Епархија осјечкопољска и барањска or Епархија осечкопољска и барањска; hr, Osječkopoljska i baranjska eparhija) is an eparchy (d ...

. The first church on this site was built in 1715, and the present-day church in 1799. The church of St. Demetrius is the largest cathedral of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia.

Name

The church is dedicated to and named after Demetrius of Thessaloniki, a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

martyr who lived in the early 4th century. During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox

military saints The Military Saints, Warrior Saints and Soldier Saints are patron saints, martyrs and other saints associated with the military. They were originally composed of the Early Christians who were soldiers in the Roman army during the persecution of ...

, often paired with Saint George. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is 26 October for Christians following the Gregorian calendar and 8 November for Christians following the Julian calendar.

Architecture

The height of church bell tower is 50 metres, church width is 16 metres and length 36 metres.

History

On the site of the present-day church, which was built in 1799, stood an older wooden church which was often the case with Orthodox churches in eastern Croatia. At the site of the wooden church in 1715 was built the first church made of solid material. Construction of the current church began in 1791. The church's

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...

was completed in 1824 and the church consecrated in 1840. The church has been renovated in its history several times, in 1837, 1866, 1901, 1931, 1949 and 2004. The church was badly damaged during World War II by the actions of the Ustaše authorities of Independent State of Croatia and closed on 12 July 1941. The church bells were then removed, the

demolished (although most of the icons survived), the roof tiles removed, the tower dynamited and parts of the church walls destroyed.

Patriarchal palace

Next to the church is the Patriarchal palace, one of the summer residences of the

Serbian Patriarchs This article lists the heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church, since the establishment of the church as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219 to today's patriarchate. The list includes all the archbishops and patriarchs that led the Serbian Ort ...

References

{{Serbian minority institutions and organizations in Croatia Dalj 18th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings Destroyed churches in Croatia Rebuilt churches Rebuilt buildings and structures in Croatia Buildings and structures demolished in 1941

Name

Architecture

History

Patriarchal palace

See also

References