Maps of Power

Kotor, Church of St. Mary (Collegiata), Remains of Sculptural Decoration of Pre-Romanesque Edifice

Begin 01.01.0800

Properties

ID 133121
System Class Artifact
Artifact Sculpture
Case Study Beyond East and West: Sacred Landscapes Duklja and Raška , Tabula Imperii Byzantini , TIB 17

Description

Remains of sculptural decoration found in the lower layers of the altar apse and the sacristy of the Church of St. Mary (Collegiata) in Kotor, as well as the remains of church furniture, allow a certain reconstruction of the Early Christian basilica that was located on the site of the present-day church. The decoration consists mainly of floral and geometric motifs (interlacing). The remains of the altar architrave beam, which consists of a three-part braid and an inscription in Latin IN N(OMINE) D(OMI)NI ET S (ALVATORI)... (J)OHANNIS CVM CONIV(GE), were found. The name Ivan that is read in the inscription is probably the Bishop Ivan of Kotor with his wife. More parts of the inscription were found, but they were not preserved enough to allow an interpretation. Above the Early Christian baptistery a triangular pediment with an archivolt was found carved in local yellow limestone. The interweaving and motifs are similar to the motifs of Prince Ivan's inscription, whose tombstone was also excavated. The lintel with the Latin inscription above the Southern portal of the church also belongs to this group and states: IN NOMINE D(OMI)NI D(E)I SALVATORI NOSTRIS IHS XPI INTER ANTUBVUS PAX EXIENTIBUS SALVTE.

Relations

Places (1)
Name Class Begin End Description
Kotor, Church of St. Mary (Collegiata) Place The Church of St. Mary Collegiata is located in the old town of Kotor on the Northern side. The first building was erected in the 6th century and was a three nave basilica with vaulted side naves, three semicircular apses on the Eastern side and a synthronon. The church fits typically into the Early Christian basilica architecture in the Eastern Adriatic. It was remodelled in the early 9th century. In the time of the Serbian King Stefan Radoslav (reigned 1228-1234) and the Bishop of Kotor in 1221, a new Romanesque single-nave church with an apse on the Eastern side and a dome over the middle aisle was built in the area of the middle nave of the original basilica. In the 14th century the building was fresco painted. Also fragments of plaster were found (both from the first and the second building phase). There are entrances (portals) on the Western and Southern side. On the lintel on the Southern entrance is an inscription in Latin. In 1434 the Chapel of St. John the Baptist was built on the Northern side of the church. A bell tower, situated on the North-Eastern side of the church, was erected in 1771, according to the Latin inscription placed on its Southern side. Relics of the local Saint Ozana are kept in the Church.

Files

The Latin Inscription above the Southern Portal of the Church of St. Mary (Collegiata) in Kotor
The Latin Inscription above the Southern Portal of the Church of St. Mary (Collegiata) in Kotor