The Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus (, , ) is the only

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the city of

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. It was built in 1969, replacing the city centre church which was destroyed during the

bombing of Podgorica in World War II The bombing of Podgorica in World War II was carried out by the Allies of World War II, Allies from 1943 to 1944 at the request of the Yugoslav Partisans. Background Between the two World Wars, Podgorica had a population of 13,000.brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

, and is located in the

Konik The Konik or Polish Konik, , is a Polish list of horse breeds, breed of small horse or pony. There are semi-feral populations in some regions. They are usually dun gene, mouse dun or primitive markings, striped dun. The Bilgoray, , of south-e ...

neighborhood. It serves the native Albanian Catholic population in Podgorica and Tuzi.

Construction

The cathedral was built in 1969, three years after the renewal of the city's Catholic parish. It was designed by prof. ing. Zvonimir Vrkljan of the Faculty of Architecture,

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

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 ...

, and was built to resemble a ship. It was consecrated on June 29, 1969, by Aleksandar Tokić, the then-Archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar The Archdiocese of Bar (; ; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Montenegro.

. The church has a freestanding bell tower, with concrete spiral staircases. From the dark interior, a tower sticks up, filtering light to illuminate the main altar. Its facade was never finished.

References

{{Podgorica Roman Catholic churches in Montenegro Roman Catholic churches completed in 1969 Christian bell towers Brutalist architecture Buildings and structures in Podgorica Tourist attractions in Podgorica Towers completed in 1969 Yugoslav Montenegrin architecture

Construction

See also

References