Saint Anthony's Church ( sq, Kisha katolike e Shën Andonit, also known as ''Kisha e Shna Ndout'') is a catholic church and a cultural heritage monument in

Gjakova Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

History and description

Saint Anthony's Church is located on “Rruga e Katolikëve,” Gjakova's so-called “Catholic street,” opposite ''Saint Paul and Saint Peter’s Church''. The first church, named Father Milan's Church, was built there in 1882 but later destroyed. In 1931, Father Lorenc Mazreku built the present church on the same grounds and dedicated it to Saint Anthony of Padua, known in the

Albanian language Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...

as ''Shen Ndout''. Renovations since yielded lodgings, offices, and bathrooms, but all have largely preserved the original structure, including its rectangular

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and dual bell tower oriented west-to-east. A simple, unadorned arch entryway leads through the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

and nave to the

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

and in turn to the sacristy. The sparse interior rests on a rectangular, almost symmetrical foundation. Administrative offices are hosted in an adjoining building on the south side. The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

lies on a square platform next to the nave and dominates the interior. The eastward bell towers by the entrance have simple square capstones. In the early 1990s, extensive interior renovations introduced the latest

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

and

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

materials, but the exterior remains humbly decorated, including the four windows each on the northern and southern façades.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Kosovo {{Kosovo-RC-church-stub