Original scientific paper
THE PRE-ROMANESQUE RECONSTRUCTION OF ST. MARTIN`S CHURCH IN TROGIR
Radoslav Bužančić
; Konzervatorski odjel Split
Abstract
The Church of St. Martin in Trogir is an example of early Romanesque architecture in Dalmatian towns in the second half of the 11th century. However, there are many layers of the early Romanesque edifice which contain evidence of repeated adaptations of earlier churches. One of the reconstructions is recorded on the rail of the altar barrier: + Qiq(ue) cupitis iam nosse restaurator operis Petrus nuncupatur eius uxor Dabrica ad onorem tanti patris que hie consecrati sunt primi. Pre-Romanesque St. Martin 's was remodelled in the spirit of the new style which marched together with the Croatian rulers into the Dalmatian towns in the 60's of the 11th century. The pre-romanesque Church of St. Martin was constructed around AD I 000 as a typical Dalmatian town church. Like the church of St. Lawrence in Zadar, it had the ground-plan of a basilica, but the central transept was not raised. Originally the transept was somewhat narrower and the arches of the arcades were a little lower. Roof construction was barrel vaulting alternating with crossed vaults. There would have been a cupola in the position occupied by the present bell-tower. The church has a richly ornamented lintel over the main door with an inscription referring to the construction undertaken by Prior Maius and relative of his , Petar. (+In) nomine D(omi)ni ego Maius prior una cu(m) cognatu meo Petrus cogitavimus p(ro) remediu(m) an(ime) n(ost)re unc le( m)plu( m) c( on)struere. Since Maius mentions the family connection, in the Latin Cognatu meo Petrus, this distant relation Petar must have been an unusually significant person for Maius. This part of the inscription is similar to the formulation Cognato suo Madio in the deed of gift made by Petar Krešimir IV to the Zadar monastery of St. Mary confirming possession of the estate in Tukljača (Bibinje) ...teram in Tochina Quam avus meus C(resimir) dedit cognato suo Madio et filius eo Dabrone. The C(resimir) here mentioned , a relative of Madio whom Petar Krešimir IV calls avus in the text, is his granfather Krešimir III, who took the Croatian throne in AD 1000 after a three-year conflict with his brother Svetoslav. Krešimir III had the support of the Dalmatian towns during the civil war, and a close alliance with Madio from 997 to 1000. The Petar mentioned on the lintel in Trogir and Petar in the deed of gift could be the same person, the Croatian King Krešimir III, whose Christian name would have been Petar like that of his grandson Petar Krešimir IV. If the Petar in the inscription was King Kresimir III, the church must have been built between 997 and 1000, the year in which Krešimir was crowned. In the summer of the year 1000 he most likely was present on the victor 's side at Svetoslav's surrender in Trogir. Analyses of the lintel - stylistic, paleographic and by content of the inscription - all imply that the pre-Romanesque Church of St. Martin was built in the final years of the 10th century, very close to the year AD 1000.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
111464
URI
Publication date:
10.12.1997.
Visits: 2.606 *