Prethodno priopćenje
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2025.9
Description of the Zagreb Cathedral from the 1792 Canonical Visitation of the Cathedral
Ladislav Dobrica
orcid.org/0000-0002-0240-9921
; Hrvatski državni arhiv
Sažetak
The canonical visitation of the Zagreb cathedral by Maksimilijan Vrhovac between 1792 and 1794 is the oldest known visitation of the cathedral. Besides being the earliest, it is also significant due to the circumstances under which it was organized and conducted, as well as for the wealth of information it contains. This paper focuses on just one part of that extensive documentation: the part of the visitation describing the altars and the now non-existent cathedral chapel.
The motivation behind Vrhovac’s decision to conduct a canonical visitation was his desire to continue reforms that included the supervision of the Zagreb Chapter and the College of Prebendaries of the Zagreb cathedral. As the institute of canonical visitation allows for the collection of comprehensive information on the condition of the parish being visited, in accordance with the rules and instructions set by bishops, this very institute would have enabled Vrhovac to gain complete insight into the state of the Chapter and the Cathedral, which he considered the bishop’s church, rather than the Chapter’s.
To ensure the visitation was successfully carried out, Vrhovac prepared questionnaires for each individual part of the cathedral that was to be described. As a result, the descriptions are consistent and highly detailed. The visitation itself lasted nine days, and the resulting account – spanning over one hundred pages – is the oldest fully preserved description of the cathedral. It covers not only the architecture of the cathedral, but also its entire movable inventory.
As with any other visitation, the description begins with the interior of the cathedral, followed by an account of the furnishings, such as the tabernacle, baptismal font, relics of saints, confessionals, pews and more. The most extensive section of the description concerns the then-existing 31 altars across thirty pages, or nearly one-third of the visitation. Given that only two of the altars described in this document can still be found in the cathedral (the Altar of St Luke and the Altar of the Last Supper), and that some of the altars, after being relocated to surrounding parishes, were eventually destroyed, these descriptions represent a unique and irreplaceable historical source.
The visitation also includes descriptions of three cathedral chapels, particularly the southern chapel of St John the Baptist, bequeathed for construction in the 17th century by Ivan Zakmardi of Dijankovec, the Royal Notary. The chapel was demolished during Bollé’s restoration, and this document provides its only known description.
Ključne riječi
canonical visitation; Zagreb cathedral; Maksimilijan Vrhovac; archive material; 18th century
Hrčak ID:
342550
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2025.
Posjeta: 350 *