Zrenjanin Cathedral, Catholic cathedral in Zrenjanin, Serbia.
The Cathedral of Saint John of Nepomuk is a cross-shaped Romanesque Revival church with a single tall tower above the main portal and a semicircular apse on the north side. Its facades are restrained, with a decorative band of semicircular arcades under the roof cornice and trifora windows on the side walls. The building is set back from the street toward the center of the square, breaking symmetry due to the sloping terrain toward Cara Dušana Street.
Construction of the present cathedral began in 1864 to a design by Franz Xaver Brandeisz and lasted four years. It replaced a Baroque church built in 1768, which had deteriorated; before that, a mosque stood on the site during Ottoman rule until 1718. In 1923 the parish church became a proto-cathedral, and in 1986 John Paul II raised the apostolic administration to a diocese, making it a cathedral.
The cathedral is dedicated to Saint John of Nepomuk, whose large painting by Bartalan Szekely hangs above the main altar. The side altars hold Szekely's Madonna and Child and August Mantler's Saint James the Apostle. The name refers to the Bohemian martyr drowned in the Vltava, venerated as a protector against floods.
The building sits centrally on Trg svobode and is easily reached by foot or public transport. Visitors should note that access and opening times may vary during religious services.
The cathedral's five bells have a wartime history: four smaller bells were taken away during the First World War, and new ones were cast in Zagreb in 1938. One cracked in 2001, was melted down and recast in 2002. The largest bell dates from the church's construction.
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