Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
: ''Katedrala Srca Isusova/Катедрала Срца Исусова'') is a Catholic church in
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 Sarajev ...
; commonly referred as the Sarajevo Cathedral (''Sarajevska katedrala/Сарајевска катедрала''), it is the largest
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
in
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 the seat of the
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 ...
Tomo Vukšić
Tomo Vukšić (born 9 January 1954) is a theologian and a prelate of the Catholic Church from Bosnia and Herzegovina who was named metropolitan archbishop of Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vrhbosna in January 2022, after serving two years as archb ...
, and center of Catholic worship in the city. The cathedral is located in the city's Old Town district.
History
Sacred Heart Cathedral was built in honor of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...
, an important
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
concept. The building is in the
Neo-Gothic
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 ...
style, with
Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
elements. The building was awarded to the Viennese contractor Baron Karl Schwarz with supervising architect Josip Vancaš. He modeled it after the Notre-Dame in Dijon (France). Work began on 25 August 1884, and was completed on 9 November 1887. The
Bishop of Dubrovnik
The Diocese of Dubrovnik ( hr, Dubrovačka biskupija); or Ragusa ( la, Dioecesis Ragusiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southern Croatia.
The building was damaged during the
Siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then ...
, but not completely destroyed, and the damage has since been repaired. The building is often considered as a symbol of the city: The design above the door to the cathedral is part of the flag and seal of
Sarajevo Canton
The Sarajevo Canton, officially the Canton of Sarajevo ( bs, Kanton Sarajevo; hr, Sarajevska županija; sr-Cyrl, Сарајевски кантон), is one of 10 cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It ...
The cathedral is 41.9 meters long and 21.3 meter wide. It was constructed in
Neo-Gothic
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 ...
style; The two bell towers are 43.2 m high. Above the portal is an octagonal rosette and a statue of the Sacred Heart.
Interior
* The main altar was designed by Josip Vancaš and made from Grisignano marble. It rests on four small columns of red Tyrolean marble. The seven niches behind the altar depict in the central position: Sacred Heart of Jesus; on the left side: St. Joseph and St. Francis of Assisi; on the right side:
St. Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
and the prophet
Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/ YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books ...
; on the extremities: statue of an angel.
* Side altars: in the western aisle is an altar dedicated to the
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth wh ...
(a donation of Emperor Franz Joseph I). In the eastern aisle, an altar dedicated to the apostles of the Slavs, St. Cyril and St. Methodius (a donation of the people of Bohemia).
* Pulpit: the pulpit is mounted on a richly decorated pedestal. The enclosure shows in the central part Jesus as teacher, flanked on each side by two Evangelists.
* Frescoes: in 1886 the frescoes were commissioned to Alexander Maximilian Seitz (1811–1888). Due to his deteriorating health he could only finish the designs in 1887. The execution was undertaken by his assistant
Alberto Rohden
Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Alb ...
.
** on the wall of the western bell tower : the Coronation of Mary. The lower part of the fresco shows a father, mother and child in national dress, surrounded by St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic.
** on the wall of the eastern bell tower: the
Resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord. ...
.
** in the vault: a depiction of the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
, both by Ante Martinović (replica on canvas of the fresco by A.M. Seitz).
** in the indentations above the vaults: oil paintings in
chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrast (vision), contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts ...
of the Doctors of the Church, done on canvas in Rome by
Lodovico Seitz Lodovico is an Italian masculine given name, and may refer to:
* Cigoli (1559–1613), Italian painter and architect
* Lodovico, Count Corti (1823–1888), Italian diplomat
* Lodovico Agostini (1534–1590), Italian composer
* Lodovico Altieri ( ...
(1844-1908), son of Alexander Seitz.
* Organ: manufactured by the Heferer Company of Zagreb. It has mechanical tractions, two manuals, pedal and 22 sound registers.
* Grave of archbishop Stadler, the first archbishop of Vrhbosna by the sculptor
Marin Studin
Marin Studin (1895—1960) was a Croatian sculptor.
Biography
Studin was born in 1895 in Kaštel Novi village in a family of farmers, not to far away from Split. He got his education in art at the Academy of Art, Zagreb and spent two years, fro ...
.
* The five stained-glass windows in the apse were designed by Josip Vancaš and executed by the Tiroler Glasmalerei of Innsbruck.
* The stained-glass windows in the side aisles were executed by the Vienna workshop of the Tiroler Glasmalerei.
Josip Stadler
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 ins ...
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs, and are one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and ...
References
* Msgr. Ante Meštrović: A short guide to the cathedral in Sarajevo (2011), booklet on sale in the cathedral.