Dubrovnik Cathedral

The Cathedral of Dubrovnik ( kroat. Katedrala Uznesenju Blazene Djevice Marije na nebo - " Cathedral of the recording of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the sky "; Velika Gospa short ) is the bishop's church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dubrovnik in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. The baroque Basilica, built in the years 1672 to 1713, since 1979 is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Old Town of Dubrovnik.

History

The present cathedral was a Romanesque building. Its emergence combines the local tradition with the return of Richard Coeur de Lion ' from the third crusade in the year 1192nd On the trip across the Adriatic Sea he had been shipwrecked and had come to the island of Lokrum narrowly off Dubrovnik. In gratitude for the salvation he would have financed the Kathedralbau.

Far older building still remains were found during restoration work in the cathedral in 1981, which will go back before the early medieval period founding of the Diocese of Dubrovnik.

1667 Dubrovnik was hit by a devastating earthquake that destroyed large parts of the city. For the reconstruction particularly Stjepan Gradić (1613-1683) began. The Dubrovnik scholar was 1653 ambassador of the Republic of Ragusa to the Holy See, employees of the Curia and curator of the Vatican Library. He was able to maintain the interest that brought the popes have always been the outpost of the Latin Church on the border with Orthodoxy and the Ottoman Empire, and also mobilized other European courts for his hometown.

Thus, a complete construction of the cathedral was begun in the style of the Roman Baroque, designed by Andrea Buffalini from Urbino five years after the earthquake. Until the completion took four decades.

Architecture and Facilities

The cathedral is a three-aisled basilica with a transept and cupola slimmer. The nave has four bays, the flat closing chorus three. The portal facade faces east, to the port. It is richly decorated with columns, pediments, architraves and statues.

The interior is in focus white and adorned with decorative entablatures, arches and capitals. The equipment from the 18th century includes ornate altars. In the cathedral treasury precious reliquaries are preserved from before the earthquake, including skull and hand relic of the patron saint St. Blaise ( Blaise sv. ).