St. Martin's Church, Split, Croatia

St. Martin's Church was built into a small space (an early guardhouse) within the ancient Golden Gate of Diocletian's northern wall. One of the oldest churchs in the city, Today St. Martin's Church is one of Split's tourist attractions and known for its fine 11th centery chancel screen. It is currently in the care of the Dominican sisters, who have a monastery next door. The church itself is open to the public to visit.

Architecture

Church central area divided into two parts altar screen, made of marble and covered in vines, grape vines and griffon; on the space with an altar that was intended for the clergy and boat that was intended for laymen. On the altar wall of the altar, the only preserved in situ in Dalmatia, there is an inscription with the dedication of the Virgin Mary, St. Gregory the Pope and Blessed Martin.

The pre-Romanesque stage, probably built in the 9th century, belongs to the barrel vault, an altar in the apse with a carved cross of early Christian denominations and a small trance, set in the middle of large, buried antique openings on the southern wall. The later pre-Romanesque stage of the 11th century belongs to the altarpiece and the bell tower, which was later destroyed.

References:

Wikipedia

Religious sites in Croatia

User Reviews

June Yang (3 years ago)
The smallest church I have been with only 2 seats. Great history, nice place.

June Y. (3 years ago)
The smallest church I have been with only 2 seats. Great history, nice place.

Ravi K. Kalra (3 years ago)
Classic

Brady Santoro (4 years ago)
This might be the smallest and/or narrowest church in the world. It is about 5 ft. across, and it is difficult to enter and exit in a crowd. We found this church looking for the old synagogue, and ended up going inside this church. The church is governed by Benedictine nuns, I believe, and it can only be accessed by a narrow staircase. This church is right inside the Old City walls, perhaps even built into it, and is rather Gothic/Romanesque in appearance. There is a beautiful medieval stone altar screen, behind it the altar, and a golden devotional picture of the Holy Grail (or chalice). On the wall is a wooden crucifix, and next to it, the floor plan of the church. There is usually one or two nuns supervising the church, and they do appreciate donations to keep the church running.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Nicola since 1972

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