Cathedral of Saint Domnius
Diocletian's Roman mausoleum turned cathedral, with a climbable Romanesque bell tower.
The cathedral occupies the octagonal mausoleum built for the emperor Diocletian at the heart of his retirement palace in the early fourth century. After the palace was resettled by refugees from nearby Salona, the building was reconsecrated as a Christian cathedral, an irony noted by every guide, since Diocletian had persecuted Christians including Domnius, the bishop of Salona to whom the church is dedicated. The Roman colonnade, coffered dome and carved frieze of the original mausoleum survive largely intact around the later Christian furnishings.
Inside are two celebrated sets of medieval carvings: the walnut entrance doors cut by Andrija Buvina in 1214 with panels of the life of Christ, and the stone altar of Saint Anastasius by Juraj Dalmatinac, completed in 1448. A separate Romanesque bell tower of about fifty-seven metres rises beside the building; it was rebuilt in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and can be climbed. Visitor tickets also cover the crypt, the treasury and the nearby baptistery in Diocletian's former temple.
Highlights
- Roman imperial mausoleum reused as one of Europe's oldest cathedral buildings
- Andrija Buvina's carved walnut doors of 1214, with scenes from the life of Christ
- Juraj Dalmatinac's Altar of Saint Anastasius, finished in 1448
- 57-metre bell tower with stairs to a viewpoint over the palace and harbour
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