St. Elijah Church: A Late-Baroque Orthodox Parish Church in Zadar
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.9
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Croatia
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Venetian
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page5 sections
History
St. Elijah Church is an active Orthodox parish church in Zadar, Croatia, belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Dalmatian Eparchy, its ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Dalmatia. The present church was built in 1773 in the late-Baroque style, the later phase of the Baroque tradition known for elaborate forms and decorative treatment. It replaced an earlier medieval church dedicated to the same saint.
The medieval church and Orthodox communities
From the late sixteenth century, the earlier Church of St. Elijah was used by a Greek Orthodox community that included Venetian soldiers and sailors. In 1754, the church passed to Zadar’s Serbian community. The present parish remains part of the Serbian Orthodox Church and is administered within the Benkovac Deanery, an ecclesiastical subdivision grouping several parishes under regional administration.
The present church
The church is dedicated to the Holy Prophet Elijah, the Christian form of the biblical prophet and a major prophetic figure in Hebrew Bible and Christian tradition. Its liturgical feast is observed on 20 July/2 August. The church continues to function as an Orthodox parish in Zadar.
Remains
Church and surrounding square
St. Elijah Church stands within the area of Zadar’s Roman Forum. It is a single-nave late-Baroque building constructed of brick and finished internally with plaster. One bell tower was erected in 1754, when the church passed to the Serbian community. Inside, the church preserves a large collection of icons dating from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century. A seventeenth-century Baroque Jankovic Palace stands on the square beside the church.
