Church of the Holy Cross, Medieval church in Varoš district, Split, Croatia
The Church of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic parish church at Križeva 2 in Split's Veli Varoš district. Its present form dates from 1854, built on the site of a church erected between 1679 and 1684 with donations from the Varoš residents and the Confraternity of the Holy Cross. A Baroque bell tower with an onion-shaped dome adjoins it, and a 15th-century Gothic Pietà relief sits atop the facade. The church is 25 metres long and 18 metres wide.
A first church, recorded in 1261 as Sancta Maria de Moris vel de Rivo and later called Holy Cross after the confraternity founded there in 1439, stood near the old western walls; it became the parish church on 27 January 1625 under don Nikola Halujević. Venetian authorities had it demolished in 1657 to clear the line of the new western ramparts against the Turks. The present church was built from 1679 to 1684 with alms of the Varoš residents and the confraternity, and took its current form in 1854.
The parish was founded on 27 January 1625, and its first parish priest was don Nikola Halujević. The church keeps the painted Romanesque Crucifix, long called miraculous and reattributed to a local master of the 13th century after cleaning in 1971, and a 15th-century Pietà relief from the earlier church, now set on the facade.
The church stands at Križeva 2 in Veli Varoš, a short walk west of Diocletian's Palace and the old western walls. The parish house is across the street at Križeva 29. The interior is 25 m long and 18 m wide; the painted Romanesque Crucifix and the 15th-century Pietà above the façade are the pieces to look for.
The painted Romanesque Crucifix above the main altar was long taken for a 15th-century Gothic work; after cleaning in 1971 it was dated to the 13th century and attributed to a local master. The Gothic Pietà on the facade, from the 15th century, came from the earlier church demolished in 1657.
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