Original scientific paper

THE CHURCH OF ST. MARINA NEAR ZADAR

Radomir Jurić ; Arheološki muzej u Zadru

Abstract

The church of St. Marina is situated to the south east of the historical centre of Zadar in the Gaženica quarter, alongside the Roman Biba-Jader aqueduct. According to the testimony of C. F. Bianchi, no traces of this church were apparent at the end of the 1870's. The experts from Zadar have known of its location on the basis of 14th and 15th century sources. By the middle of September 1988 only small sections up to one metre in height were visible, the remainder of the church being covered by undergrowth, pebbles and stones. After a farmer had destroyed more than half of the remaining foundations with a digger, the Archaeological Museum and the then Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Monuments carried out the research and conservation of the walls. The church is of longitudinal ground plan with a semi-circular apse in the east. The technique of construction and the earliest written sources lead the author to date the church to the late Romanesque period, being similar in style to others in the same region (St. Nicholas in Crno and the Medieval phase of St. John's church in Relja, for example). Churches dedicated to St. Marina can be found throughout coastal Croatia, frequently in harbours, from Istria to Trogir. There is also a Benedictine abbey dedicated to the same saint in Lika. The author also deals with the legends surrounding the life of St. Marina and concludes that her cult spread to Zadar from Venice in the late Middle Ages.

Keywords

Hrčak ID:

111417

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/111417

Publication date:

10.12.1997.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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