The Cathedral of Saint Domnius (), known locally as the ''Sveti Dujam'' or colloquially ''Sveti Duje'', is the

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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Split-Makarska, currently headed by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Zdenko Križić. The Cathedral of St. Domnius is a complex of a church, formed from an Imperial Roman

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

, with a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

; strictly the church is dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and the bell tower to

Saint Domnius Saint Domnius (also known as Saint Dujam or Saint Duje, Saint Domnio, Saint Doimus, or Saint Domninus) was a Bishop of Salona (today's Solin) around the year 300, and is venerated as the patron of the nearby city of Split in modern Croatia. ...

. Together they form the Cathedral of St. Domnius. The Cathedral of

, consecrated at the turn of the 7th century AD, is regarded as the oldest Catholic cathedral in the world that remains in use in its original structure, without near-complete renovation at a later date (though the bell tower dates from the 12th century). The structure itself, built in AD 305 as the Mausoleum of

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

, is the second oldest structure used by any Christian Cathedral.

Name

The cathedral was named after

(''Saint Dujam'', or ''Saint Domnius'')

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Split, who was a 3rd-century Bishop of Salona.

Salona Salona (, ) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and near to Split, in Croatia. It was one of the largest cities of the late Roman empire with 60,000 inhabitants. It was the last residence of the final western ...

was a large

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

city serving as capital of the Province of Dalmatia. Today it is located near the city of

Solin Solin is a town and a suburb of Split, in Split-Dalmatia county, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea and the river Jadro. Solin developed on the location of ancient city of ''Salona'', which was the capital o ...

. Saint Domnius was martyred with seven other

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

in the persecutions of the Emperor

. He was born in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

, in modern-day

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and beheaded in 304 at Salona.

Architecture

Diocletian's Palace Diocletian's Palace (, ; ) is an ancient Roman palace and fortress complex built at the end of the third century AD by the Roman Emperor Diocletian as his retirement residence. About half of the complex was for Diocletian's personal use, with th ...

() is a building in the centre of Split, built for the Emperor Diocletian (a native of Dalmatia) at the turn of the 4th century. On the intersection of two main roads,

cardo A ''cardo'' (: ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Rome, ancient Roman cities and military castra, camps as an integral component of Urban planning, city planning. The ''cardo maximus'', or most often the ''cardo'', was the main ...

and

decumanus In Roman urban planning, a ''decumanus'' was an east–west-oriented road in a Ancient Rome, Roman city or ''Castra, castrum'' (military camp). The main ''decumanus'' of a particular city was the ''decumanus maximus'', or most often simply "the ...

, there is a monumental court

Peristyle In ancient Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture, a peristyle (; ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. ''Tetrastoön'' () is a rare ...

, from which the only access to Cathedral of St. Domnius is to the east. The Cathedral of St. Domnius is composed of three different sections of different ages. The main part is Emperor Diocletian's mausoleum, which dates from the end of the 3rd century. The mausoleum was built like the rest of the

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

with white local

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

of high quality, most of which was from marble quarries on the island of

Brač Brač is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide.tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

taken from the nearby river

Jadro The Jadro is a watercourse in Dalmatia, Croatia, that discharges into the Adriatic Sea. The upper reaches of the Jadro River, as well as its source, Jadro Spring, are protected as an ichthyological nature reserve, partly due to the presence of ...

beds, and with brick made in Salonitan and other factories. Later, in the 17th century a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

was added to the eastern side of the mausoleum. For that purpose the eastern wall of the mausoleum was torn down in order to unify the two chambers. The

was constructed in the year 1100 AD, in the Romanesque style. Extensive rebuilding in 1908 radically changed the Bell Tower, and many of the original

Romanesque sculpture Romanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 12th century, or later depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period. The term was invented by 19th-centur ...

s were removed. One of the best examples of Romanesque sculpture in Croatia, are the wooden doors on Cathedral of St. Domnius. They were made by the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

n sculptor and painter

Andrija Buvina Andrea Buvina (also known as ''Andrija Buvina'', or ''Andrea Guvina'', ''Gavina'' or ''Gruvina'') was a 13th-century medieval Croatian sculptor and painter. His work is commonly associated with the Romanesque art, Romanesque period. Works The woode ...

around 1214. Two wings of the Buvina wooden door contains 14 scenes from the life of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, separated by rich ornaments in wood.

Treasury

On the first floor of the sacristy is the cathedral treasury, which contains relics of Saint Domnius, which were brought to the cathedral after his death. Other treasures include sacral art works, like the Romanesque ''The Madonna and Child''

panel painting A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not pain ...

from the 13th century,Naklada Naprijed, ''The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide'', pg. 237, Zagreb (1999), objects like chalices and reliquaries by

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

s from the 13th to the 19th century, and mass vestments from the 14th until 19th century. It also contains famous books like the ''Book of gospels'' (''Splitski Evandelistar'') from the 6th century, the ''

Supetar cartulary Supetar cartulary or Sumpetar cartulary () is a 12th-century cartulary which contains charters from the years 1080 to 1187. Although the cartulary itself just lists the possessions of the monastery of St. Peter in Selo on the territory of the ...

'' (''Kartularium'' from Sumpetar) from the 11th century, and the ''Historia Salonitana'' (The History of the people of Salona) by

Thomas the Archdeacon Thomas the Archdeacon (; ; ; c. 1200 – 8 May 1268), also known as Thomas of Spalato (, , ), was a Roman Catholic cleric, historian and chronicler from Split (Spalato). He is often referred to as one of the greatest sources in the historiography ...

from Split in the 13th century.

Gallery

File:Top of the Cathedral of St. Dujam, Split, Croatia, seen from Pjaca square.jpg, Top of the cathedral, as seen from Pjaca square File:Church tower of the Cathedral of Split 002.jpg, Bell tower File:Church tower of the Cathedral of Split 003.jpg, Bell tower upclose File:Cathedral of Split - Entrance.jpg, Bell tower entrance File:Split BW 2024-10-02 12-50-15.jpg, Interior of the cathedral File:Interior of Cathedral of Split 003.jpg, Canvas depicting the life of St. Domnius by the Baroque painter Pietro Ferrari (1685) File:View of Diocletian's Palace, Split 02.jpg, The cathedral tower bell seen from Split's waterfront

References

External links

Grad Split
Official Split web page
Splitsko-makarska nadbiskupija
Official Archdiocese web page {{DEFAULTSORT:Split, Saint Domnius World Heritage Sites in Croatia