Church of St. Euphemia

Rovinj, Croatia

The Church of St. Euphemia is a Baroque church located in the heart of the historic part of Rovinj, Croatia, dominating the town.

This three-nave church was built in 1736 over the remains of older, early Christian structures. The dedication was originally to Saint George, later to Saints George and Euphemia; the present building is dedicated to Euphemia only. Its façade dates from 1883.

The relics of Saint Euphemia are preserved in a Roman sarcophagus from the sixth century (but adapted in the 15th century). The church contains several treasures and works of art: Gothic statues from the 15th century, paintings from the 16th and the 17th centuries: Last Supper and Christ in the Gethsemane.

The bell tower resembles the tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice. It was built during 1654–1680, to the plans by Antonio Manopola. On top of this 60 m-high tower stands the statue of Saint Euphemia, serving as a wind vane.

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Address

Trg Sv. Eufemije, Rovinj, Croatia
See all sites in Rovinj

Details

Founded: 1736
Category: Religious sites in Croatia

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Vrsar Castle (7,8 km)
Monkodonja (5,4 km)


Church of Snowy Mary (49,8 km)
Church of Our Lady of Consolation (49,8 km)
Pula Arena (29 km)
Minorite Monastery Church (49,7 km)
St. George's Cathedral (49,9 km)
Euphrasian Basilica (16,4 km)
St. Stephen's Church (49,9 km)
St. Francis Monastery (29 km)
Pula Fortress (29,1 km)

User Reviews

Angela Guardian (2 years ago)
Very beautiful place to visit. If you have time go up to the church tower and see the breathtaking view of Rovinj. Be cearful on the staircases in the tower they are realy scary.
Vlassis Youroukos (2 years ago)
On the top of the hill with nice views around. For 20kn (a bit less than 3€), you can have access to the wooden staircase that leads to the top of the 60m high bell tower. The staircase is old, steep and intimidating but the views from the top are astonishing.
Drew Vaterlaus (2 years ago)
Beautiful church inside and out. Amazing views from a top a hill and overlooking the sea. For €3 you can go up to the top of the bell tower and have phenomenal views of the entire city and surrounding islands.
Gaurav Kachru (2 years ago)
Beautifully set between the coastline and the gardens around it, it's lovely on the outside. Once inside, it's more ordinary. The murals are limited and the roof is almost bare. The statue of Mother Teresa is a novelty. Otherwise, a pretty church in a beautiful location but not near exceptional.
Luka Savic (2 years ago)
It's a religious church that lies to people for mind control and money taking that's why 1 stat. But overall its a nice looking church you can see from all parts of town because of course they made it on top of the hill. It has some beautiful sights from its terrace. Its worth climbing up to it and enjoying the sight of sea. They even found an older church that was built long time ago and dirt covered it. It has some tunnels under it. I found this fake bullets on the ground, they were filming some action scenes here with Selma Hayek and Samuel L Jackson.
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Historic Site of the week

Quimper Cathedral

From 1239, Raynaud, the Bishop of Quimper, decided on the building of a new chancel destined to replace that of the Romanesque era. He therefore started, in the far west, the construction of a great Gothic cathedral which would inspire cathedral reconstructions in the Ile de France and would in turn become a place of experimentation from where would later appear ideas adopted by the whole of lower Brittany. The date of 1239 marks the Bishop’s decision and does not imply an immediate start to construction. Observation of the pillar profiles, their bases, the canopies, the fitting of the ribbed vaults of the ambulatory or the alignment of the bays leads us to believe, however, that the construction was spread out over time.

The four circular pillars mark the start of the building site, but the four following adopt a lozenge-shaped layout which could indicate a change of project manager. The clumsiness of the vaulted archways of the north ambulatory, the start of the ribbed vaults at the height of the south ambulatory or the choice of the vaults descending in spoke-form from the semi-circle which allows the connection of the axis chapel to the choir – despite the manifest problems of alignment – conveys the hesitancy and diverse influences in the first phase of works which spread out until the start of the 14th century.

At the same time as this facade was built (to which were added the north and south gates) the building of the nave started in the east and would finish by 1460. The nave is made up of six bays with one at the level of the facade towers and flanked by double aisles – one wide and one narrow (split into side chapels) – in an extension of the choir arrangements.

The choir presents four right-hand bays with ambulatory and side chapels. It is extended towards the east of 3-sided chevet which opens onto a semi-circle composed of five chapels and an apsidal chapel of two bays and a flat chevet consecrated to Our Lady.

The three-level elevation with arches, triforium and galleries seems more uniform and expresses anglo-Norman influence in the thickness of the walls (Norman passageway at the gallery level) or the decorative style (heavy mouldings, decorative frieze under the triforium). This building site would have to have been overseen in one shot. Undoubtedly interrupted by the war of Succession (1341-1364) it draws to a close with the building of the lierne vaults (1410) and the fitting of stained-glass windows. Bishop Bertrand de Rosmadec and Duke Jean V, whose coat of arms would decorate these vaults, finished the chancel before starting on the building of the facade and the nave.

Isolated from its environment in the 19th century, the cathedral was – on the contrary – originally very linked to its surroundings. Its site and the orientation of the facade determined traffic flow in the town. Its positioning close to the south walls resulted in particuliarities such as the transfer of the side gates on to the north and south facades of the towers: the southern portal of Saint Catherine served the bishop’s gate and the hospital located on the left bank (the current Préfecture) and the north gate was the baptismal porch – a true parish porch with its benches and alcoves for the Apostles’ statues turned towards the town, completed by an ossuary (1514).

The west porch finds its natural place between the two towers. The entire aesthetic of these three gates springs from the Flamboyant era: trefoil, curly kale, finials, large gables which cut into the mouldings and balustrades. Pinnacles and recesses embellish the buttresses whilst an entire bestiary appears: monsters, dogs, mysterious figures, gargoyles, and with them a whole imaginary world promoting a religious and political programme. Even though most of the saints statues have disappeared an armorial survives which makes the doors of the cathedral one of the most beautiful heraldic pages imaginable: ducal ermine, the Montfort lion, Duchess Jeanne of France’s coat of arms side by side with the arms of the Cornouaille barons with their helmets and crests. One can imagine the impact of this sculpted decor with the colour and gilding which originally completed it.

At the start of the 16th century the construction of the spires was being prepared when building was interrupted, undoubtedly for financial reasons. Small conical roofs were therefore placed on top of the towers. The following centuries were essentially devoted to putting furnishings in place (funeral monuments, altars, statues, organs, pulpit). Note the fire which destroyed the spire of the transept cross in 1620 as well as the ransacking of the cathedral in 1793 when nearly all the furnishings disappeared in a « bonfire of the saints ».

The 19th century would therefore inherit an almost finished but mutilated building and would devote itself to its renovation according to the tastes and theories of the day.

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