Church of St. Nicholas (, sr-Cyrl, Храм светог Николе) in

Pačetin Pačetin ( sr-Cyrl, Пачетин, ) is a Settlement (Croatia), village in the municipality of Trpinja, Vukovar-Syrmia County in the easternmost part of Croatia. At the time of the 2011 Census the population of the village was 541. Village lies n ...

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

church in eastern

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas.

History

The building of the St. Nicholas Church in Pačetin started in 1752 and the construction works were finished in three years period so that it was blessed in 1755 by the Bishops of Pakrac

Sofronije Jovanović Sofronije may refer to: * Sofronije Podgoričanin (1668 - 1711), the Metropolitan of Karlovac * Sofronije Kirilović (died 1786), Serbian Orthodox bishop in the Habsburg * Sofronije Jugović-Marković (fl. 1789), Habsburg Serb writer and activist i ...

. At that time, three Orthodox priests practiced religious services in the village. The church was reconstructed several times in its history with 1908 reconstruction being the first one, 1958 the second and 1986 the third reconstruction with the renovation work still in progress in 2018. The new church

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

was erected in 1910 and it was the work of painter

Ivan Tišov Ivan Tišov (8 February 1870 – 20 September 1928) was a Croatian Painting, painter. He studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, bringing back ideas from the Munich Secession movement to Zagreb. He is best known for his work in publi ...

. Iconostasis was commissioned by the Government of

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

, nominally autonomous kingdom within the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, with the aim to create higher quality in the standards of equipment of sacral edifices for both the Orthodox and the Catholic churches within the kingdom.

Architecture

The architectural framework for the iconostasis is designed in the

Byzantine Revival architecture Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Or ...

style which was the most frequently used style in the late 19th and early 20th century design of Orthodox churches in Croatia while most of the design elements are based on the classical origin. The compositional structure of iconostasis and the style of painting are in line with the Western academic traditions of painting. Some icons show the elements of

Secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

with the icon of the Virgin's on the top of the iconostasis having the most elements of Secession. Old iconostasis from the 1891 was painted by Đorđe Rakić from Neština. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Church of St. Nicholas was turned into

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church by the authorities of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

. Ustashas damaged the iconostasis and parish house and robbed part of the church inventory. During the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

in 1991 church was hit with two shells that damaged its

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

section. In the early 2000s church attracted attention among Orthodox and some Catholic believers when story about weeping icon of Saint Nicholas appeared in regional and national media.

References

{{Serbian minority institutions and organizations in Croatia 18th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings

Churches completed in 1755 Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia

History

Architecture

See also

References