Church of Saints Philip and James, Baroque Catholic church in Vukovar, Croatia
The Church of Saints Philip and James is a Franciscan parish church in Vukovar, built from 1723 and blessed in 1732. A classicist addition by Vienna architect Richard Jordan in 1896–1897 brought its length to 58 metres, making it the third-longest church in Croatia after the Zagreb and Đakovo cathedrals. Frescoes painted in 1911 by the Maribor Zoratti school cover the interior.
Franciscans who came to Vukovar from Srijemske Laze began building the monastery and church in 1723; fra Marko Dragojević, who initiated the project, blessed it in 1732. The auxiliary bishop of Pécs, Sigismund Berenyi, dedicated it in 1738. In 1896 and 1897 a classicist addition was built to Richard Jordan's design, and on 24 May 1899 the enlarged church was dedicated by Anđelko Voršak.
The church serves as a central gathering place for the Catholic community of Vukovar where locals gather for regular worship and seasonal celebrations. The faithful meet here to mark important religious moments throughout the year.
The church stands within the Franciscan monastery complex in central Vukovar, near the Danube. It is an active parish church, so visits are best timed outside Mass. The building bears visible scars of the 1991 siege, left deliberately as a reminder, and the crypt and monastery hold the rescued books and the Antun Bauer art collection.
The church is 58 metres long, making it the third-longest church in Croatia after the cathedrals of Zagreb and Đakovo; the length came with the classicist extension built in 1896–1897 to plans by the Viennese architect Richard Jordan. The three bells obtained in 1924 came from a Ljubljana foundry, and one was donated by Sofija Eltz, the last countess of Vukovar.
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