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Cathedral of Sveti Jacov (San Giacomo, St James) is the masterpiece of Šibenik. It was added to Unesco World Heritage List in 2000. Parts of the tips on the subject have been partly burrowed to the description of the cathedral in the World Heritage List.
It is most likely that the first view of the cathedral that you will get will be by its side, as on the first photo. Of particular interest are the side entrance (see next tip) and a medallion appearing on the far left, with a close-up on the second photo.
A bearded saint seems to go out of a cave (there is a second one on the left) and is kneeling in front of a lion. In the background, the countryside looks mountainous and bears several olive trees and the cross with Jesus. Thanks to Leyle (VT TheWanderingCamel) that identified him as Saint Jerome, often represented with a lion and very popular in Croatia. Leave a Comment
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The cathedral was built on a place where there was already a Romanesque church. A few elements of the previous church were reused such as the carving on each side of the side entrance.
The first photo shows the side entrance, which is typically Renaissance. It is framed by two lions looking one another at the foot of a carved column (enlargement on the second photo).
The left column holds Adam, the right one Eve (enlargement on the second photo). They both hide their private parts with the left hand but amazingly, while Adam hides his breast with his right hand, Eve hides her stomach and shows her breast ! The lions, columns, Adam and Eve were sculpted by Bonino.
At first, I had not noticed the strange small carving on top of the entrance (fourth photo). It shows two (Episcopal) mules, one with a blank coat of arm, the other with a diagonal stripped coat of arm. On the right a human (?) figure looks almost like a scorpion but holds a sun on a spear in its right hand ! Strange, isn't it ? Leave a Comment
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Cathedral of Sveti Jacov is a fascinating example of the considerable interchanges between the three culturally different regions of Northern Italy, Dalmatia, and Tuscany in the 15th and 16th centuries. These interchanges created the conditions for unique and outstanding solutions to the technical and structural problems of constructing the cathedral vaulting and dome. It is a unique testimony to the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance period in church architecture. Both forms have been successfully blended to achieve and outstanding landmark.
It was begun to build in 1431 but consecrated only in 1555. On such a long period, three architects were involved, one after the other :
Francesco di Giacomo,
Juraj Matejev, the main architect until his death in 1473,
Niccolů di Giovanni Fiorentino from 1477 to 1505.
Besides the architects, other artists were involved, such as Ivan Pribislavlijċ, Andrija Budičiċ, Martin Budičiċ, Adrija Alesi.
At first, the Venetian rulers of the city wanted a single nave church, but once the front was built, they were deceived. They then hired the best architect available, Juraj Matejev, known as Giorgio Orsini in Italy and nicknamed Juraj Matejev Dalmatinaċ (Georgius Mathei Dalmaticus or George the Dalmate). He added side transepts and a dome. Moreover, he invented a new process for building the dome. The stones were adjusted without any jointing. As the cathedral was severely damaged during WWII, when it was repaired, modern builders were unable to find out how it had been done and they had to add an (invisible) coat of concrete to hold the stones !
Around the dome, four figures have been carved. The last photo shows one of them that figures an angel bringing down a demon with a blue spear. Leave a Comment
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 Cathedral of Sveti Jacov,
main entrance ventails by JLBG,
3 more photosLeave a Comment
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The front of the cathedral shows a large central nave with two small aisles. Over the central entrance stand one large rosace topped by a smaller one. Unfortunately, when we visited the cathedral (11:30), it was not lit by the sun.
The second photo shows that the main entrance is framed by several rows of carvings. Cabled columns on the outer row, then the twelve apostles topped by Jesus, then another row of cabled columns and the inner row is a wealth of delicately carved leaves wit somewhere near the top (left) a praying angel. Leave a Comment
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 Cathedral of Sveti Jacov,
frieze and parchment by JLBG, 1 more photosLeave a Comment
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 Cathedral Sveti Jacov,
entrance in the
baptistery by JLBG,
3 more photos
The second photo shows the baptistery itself, a marble basin hold up by two chubby-cheeked baby angels ("puttis") that were carved by Juraj Dalmatinaċ himself. It stands in the middle of a small room with a marble soil and a ceiling entirely carved (third photo). As the room is very small, it was not possible to take a photo of the whole ceiling and I have tried to give the best of it.
The fourth photo is a close-up that shows how delicately carved the whole ceiling is ! Leave a Comment
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 Crkva sv. Barbare by croisbeauty
On the facede of the church, above the entrance in a Gothic niche, you can see the stone figure of St. Nikola.
Asmall church museum is arranged in the interrior of the church. It exibits valuable paintings, sculptures, wood engravings, artistic craft work from the period of the 14th to the 18th centuries of various styles: Romanesque. Renaissance and Baroque. Leave a Comment
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 Kneževa palaca by croisbeauty
Only two wings of this big building have been preserved. The highest representative of Venetian state authorityin the community was seated here. That was the town prince-captain.
Gothic passage with the town gate passes through the central line of the ground-floor. The town coat of arms with the figure of St. Mihovil, the patron saint of the town, is above the town gate. Leave a Comment Address: Obala Oslobođenja
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 Crkva Uspenie Bogomatere by croisbeauty
Until the beginning of the 19th century, that was the Catholic church of St. Spas belonging to female Benedictine monastery. French authorities closed the monastery in 1808, and delivered the church to the episcopacy of the Serbian Orthodox church.
Numerous cultural, historical and artistic objects of value can be found in the church. Leave a Comment Address: Zagrebacka ulica
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