Original scientific paper
Kapitul – the History of Archaeological Excavations and Preliminary Results of Recent Revision Excavations in the Period from 2011 to 2017
Ante Jurčević
Abstract
The site of Kapitul lies about two kilometres south-east of Knin Fort, on the south-west flattened slope of Gajnjača Hill. This hillock lies in the immediate vicinity of a railway bridge beneath which the Kosovčica flows into the Krka River. Archaeological excavations at Kapitul led by Fra Lujo Marun were carried out several times between 1885 and 1937. The most important results were yielded during the first campaigns, in 1885, 1886 and 1888, in other words, at the time off and immediately after the cutting for the railway line through the site was made. Up to the beginning of the revision archaeological excavations in 2011, the position at which it lies was inaccessible and densely overgrown; it was considered that there were no further archaeological remains to be discovered. This state of affairs was preceded by numerous acts of devastation, the most important of which came during World War II; in 1942, the Italian army of occupation, preparing the ground for the building of a military and housing complex at Kapitul, removed the remains of medieval architecture and on the same site built barracks with residential buildings, high concrete defensive walls and bunkers. There was similar devastation when Knin Railway Station was enlarged in 1955. During the recent revision excavations, which were preceded by the demolition and removal of the remains of the Italian barracks, the remains of the foundations of a Romanesque threenave basilica (Knin Cathedral) were found, with the remains of structures (towers, walls) of the defensive walls that guarded the Kapitul complex. Also discovered were finds from the Roman and medieval periods. Part of the graveyard in which up to 1885 the inhabitants of the villages of Kapitul, Potkonje and Ljubač were interred was also discovered.
Keywords
Knin; Kapitul; Benedictine abbey; Knin Cathedral; preromanesque and Romanesque church furnishing;
Hrčak ID:
258523
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2021.
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