Duomo di San Nicola: The Principal Catholic Church of Pazin, Croatia
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Croatia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page6 sections
History
Duomo di San Nicola is the principal Catholic church of Pazin, Croatia. Built in 1266 in the Romanesque style, it became a provostry within the Diocese of Poreč, a territorial church jurisdiction administered by a bishop. The church follows the Roman rite, the Latin liturgical tradition of Western and Central European Catholicism, and belongs to the Diocese of Poreč and Pula.
Medieval Development
In the fifteenth century, a Late Gothic sanctuary was added beside the church’s central body. A Latin inscription on its facade gives the construction date as 1441. The sanctuary’s reticulated vaults, whose ribs form a net-like pattern, were decorated with frescoes by an Alpine painter probably from Tyrol.
Baroque Transformation
Extensive alterations during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave the facade a strongly Baroque character. The two existing side aisles were added in 1730, changing the church’s internal arrangement while retaining elements of its earlier medieval structure. The church was consecrated to Saint Nicholas in 1764. He is regarded as Pazin’s protector and is traditionally associated with charity, protection, and care for travellers and seafarers.
Remains
Church Interior
The church has three aisles, consisting of a central nave flanked by two side aisles. Its earlier presbytery survives and is divided from the main body by a large Gothic arch covered entirely with frescoes. The apse has a semi-octagonal form and is enclosed by a vault carried on pointed, ribbed arches. Its surfaces are completely covered with paintings dated to 1460. Thirteen small stone shields near the intersections of the vault ribs bear the heraldic emblems of noble families who took part in the church’s construction.
Seven altars from the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries remain inside the church. The high altar is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, while the oldest altar is dedicated to Saint Mary. Tomb slabs beside the altars preserve evidence of the former practice of burying the dead within churches.
Bell Tower
A massive bell tower stands behind the church forecourt. Built in 1705 from white limestone, it rises 45 metres and has a double upper cornice and triple-light openings, openings divided into three vertical sections, in the bell chamber. Its upper part has Ghibelline-style crenellation, a form of battlement associated with the imperial political tradition of medieval Italy, and is crowned by an octagonal spire. A clock on the upper tower faces the old town above Pazin’s coat of arms. Near the stone wall at the tower’s foot, a direct entrance to the church was also built in 1705.
