Church of St. Nicholas ( sr-Cyrl, Храм светог Николе; Serbian Latin: ''Hram svetog Nikole''; hr, Hram svetog Nikole) in

Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...

is a

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

church in eastern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The church is one of the oldest baroque buildings of the Serb community north of the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

River.Konstrukcija poslijeratnog prostora:Simbolička izgradnja Vukovara, Mateo Žanić, Institutu društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar, POLEMOS: časopis za interdisciplinarna istraživanja rata i mira, Vol.XI No.22 Srpanj 2008.

Architecture

St. Nicholas is nave building with an

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

and bell tower at the main facade. The main front in the central part is slightly accentuated, processed by single and doubled

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s, cornices and attic wavy line on the edges of a

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

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 An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...

resting on Ionic capitals, while the semi-dome-vaulted

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

. The bell tower, which was completed in 1767, is 37 meters high.

History

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.

Inventory

St Nicholas inventory along church itself, is stated separately in

Register of Cultural Goods of Croatia The Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Registar kulturnih dobara Republike Hrvatske) has been established in 1999. The Croatian Ministry of Culture is responsible for the administration of this public register, which has be ...

as a collection protected cultural property. Collection is composed of Baroque iconostasis from 1757, 17

icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

from 1760, 23 books printed in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries - two of which are valuable

octoechos Oktōēchos (here transcribed "Octoechos"; Greek: ;The feminine form exists as well, but means the book octoechos. from ὀκτώ "eight" and ἦχος "sound, mode" called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, ''Osmoglasie'' from о́с� ...

from 1537, liturgical vessels, two choirs, the bishop's and the Virgin thrones, pews from the 18th century and table for communion.

Serbian Home Vukovar

The original Serbian Home ( sr-Cyrl, Српски дом; Serbian Latin: ''Srpski dom'') building in Vukovar was built in 1733. for the needs of the ''Serbian Russo-Slavic School''. The original building was destroyed in a fire in 1822 in which 300 buildings in Vukovar burned. The building was also seat of ''Serbian Singing Society "Javor"''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the church was taken over by

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

and

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Move ...

who established at as a Town Command Center. They changed building name into ''

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Home'' and destroyed the Serbian Cyrillic inscription ''Српски дом'' at the top of building. In the former Yugoslavia, the building belonged to Velepromet company and today it is subject to an ownership dispute between the town and Serbian Orthodox Church. Since 1991 building temporary facility religious rites until church interior will be renovated.

References

{{Serbian minority institutions and organizations in Croatia Churches completed in 1737 1737 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy 18th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings

Destroyed churches in Croatia Buildings and structures in Vukovar

Architecture

History

Inventory

Serbian Home Vukovar

See also

References