St. Saviour Church (; ) is a small votive church located in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

's Old Town. It is dedicated to

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

History and Architecture

Following an earthquake on 17 May 1520, which killed about 20 people and damaged many buildings in the city, the local Senate which governed

Dubrovnik Republic The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost Croatia) that carr ...

commissioned a new church as a sign of gratitude for sparing the city from even bigger destruction. The monumental inscription above the main entrance on the front facade testifies to this. Designed by the architect Petar Andrijić from

Korčula Korčula () is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk. The populat ...

, construction started in 1520 and the church was completed in 1528.Antun Travirka; ''Dubrovnik - history, culture, art heritage'', 1998 The church has one

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 ...

with a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

-cross-ribbed vault. The lateral windows are also Gothic with the typical pointed arches. Nevertheless, the main facade with the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

elements on the portal and the three-leaf semicircular top as well as the semicircular

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

reveal a recognizable Renaissance style. In 1667 Dubrovnik was hit again by a disastrous earthquake which killed some 5,000 citizens and destroyed much of the city. However, St. Saviour Church withstood the disaster so it can be seen today in its original form, as a fine example of the town's Renaissance architecture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Saviour Church, Dubrovnik 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Croatia Renaissance church buildings Roman Catholic churches completed in 1528 Churches in Dubrovnik Tourist attractions in Dubrovnik