Church of St Nicholas is a Serbian Orthodox church and one of the oldest baroque buildings of the Serb community north of the Sava River.
Present church was built in the period from 1733 till 1737. The church is built on location of old wooden church from 1690. The church was closed and looted during the World War II (1941-1942), and in 1991 interior of the church was dynamited by the local Croatian armed units in the city. Of the total 1991 pre-war internal inventory there is kept only 39 icons, 3 gospels and part of archive and church vessels. Reconstruction of external damage is completed, while the restoration of the interior is still in progress.
St Nicholas is nave building with an apse and bell tower at the main facade. The main front in the central part is slightly accentuated, processed by single and doubled pilasters, cornices and attic wavy line on the edges of a classicist vases. Slender tower that emphasize edge pilasters ending baroque arches with the lantern. Vaulted nave of the church is divided into four bays, which are separated by a wide archivolts resting on Ionic capitals, while the semi-dome-vaulted sanctuary. The bell tower, which was completed in 1767, is 37 meters high.
References:The Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.
In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians. The county became a privileged refuge for persecuted Cathars.
The castle, often besieged (notably by Simon de Montfort in 1211 and 1212), resisted assault and was only taken once, in 1486, thanks to treachery during the war between two branches of the Foix family.
From the 14th century, the Counts of Foix spent less and less time in the uncomfortable castle, preferring the Governors' Palace. From 1479, the Counts of Foix became Kings of Navarre and the last of them, made Henri IV of France, annexed his Pyrrenean lands to France.
As seat of the Governor of the Foix region from the 15th century, the castle continued to ensure the defence of the area, notably during the Wars of Religion. Alone of all the castles in the region, it was exempted from the destruction orders of Richelieu (1632-1638).
Until the Revolution, the fortress remained a garrison. Its life was brightened with grand receptions for its governors, including the Count of Tréville, captain of musketeers under Louis XIII and Marshal Philippe Henri de Ségur, one of Louis XVI's ministers. The Round Tower, built in the 15th century, is the most recent, the two square towers having been built before the 11th century. They served as a political and civil prison for four centuries until 1862.
Since 1930, the castle has housed the collections of the Ariège départemental museum. Sections on prehistory, Gallo-Roman and mediaeval archaeology tell the history of Ariège from ancient times. Currently, the museum is rearranging exhibits to concentrate on the history of the castle site so as to recreate the life of Foix at the time of the Counts.