The Church of St John in Stari Grad was built within the Greek insula, converted in Roman times, alongside the eastern gate of the city. Archaeological excavations revealed a unique heritage complex of city walls and residential architecture within which the still preserved northern Early Christian church (St John’s) represents the starting point for the creation and development of the Christianity of the Hvar diocese and the island of Hvar

Jasna Jeličić Radonić

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157Received for publication February 12, 2019IntroductionThe Church of St John in Stari Grad was built within the south-east corner of Pharos and the Greek insula alongside the eastern gate of the city and the principal ancient street. This is the northern church building of a complex Early Christian compound of the sixth century. The first Christian communities in urban milieus often converted the spaces of already existing buildings for use as oratories (in Salona, Iader and Parentium, for example). This residential block was built before the middle of the fourth century BC, in the context of the formation of the new urbanistic matrix of Pharos. A great cataclysm over-took the Greek city after the defeat and flight of Demetri-us of Pharos when “Aemilius, the Roman Consul, took Pharos at once by assault and razed it to the ground” (Po-lyb. III, 19, 1-13). When amicable relations with the Ro-mans were established, the city underwent a renewal, about which the famed public inscription, the Pharos Pse-phisma speaks unambiguously. Inscribed on it are the official decisions of the polis of Pharos to send an envoy to the mother city, Paros, asking for help with the renewal of the city, which was henceforth to be under Roman protec-tion. Although it retained to some extent the original Greek outlines and some of the characteristics, the city was gradually Romanised, particularly with the arrival of Roman citizens, and it became a Roman municipium1-7. Roman TimesArchaeological excavations showed that the residential block of the original Greek architecture was repaired and remodelled according to the new needs of the Roman citi-zens. Changes to the sizes of the rooms and certain mod-ifications can be seen, although the basic volumes and approaches to individual parts of the building would be retained. The entry into the first room in the north-east part of the insula was from the north, where a massive stone threshold was found. Here went the main city street that led from the eastern gate of the city to the central city square. Partially preserved in the room is the paved floor of irregular stone slabs and tegulae. Finds of Roman coins ranging from the Republic, early Roman emperors from Augustus and Tiberius to Aurelian and Tacitus tell clear-ly of the renovation of this residential unit in early Roman times and of the continued use of the space, probably put to the same purpose. This is confirmed by everyday use objects – potsherds, that is, from grey-glazed, Megarian ware decorated with various relief ornaments, to early terra sigilatta and north African red slip ware (ARSW) and fragments of Roman oil lamps. A new room was built onto the north-east corner of this insula8-9. (Figure 1)At that time the two central rooms of the Greek insula were remodelled; they were almost equal in width to that on the north-east corner. The first, on the south side of the entry corridor with a well, was enlarged by its front wall attenuating the original entry into the second room. Over the stone threshold, a new southern wall was put up. The room so enlarged was ornamented with frescos. This is shown by numerous fragments of wall painting found by the front wall after the collapse of the building, fragments that were discarded and collected in the space behind the apse of the Early Christian church built later. On the fres-cos various plant and geometrical motifs were painted. Coll. Antropol. 43 (2019) 2: 157–161ReviewSt John’s Church in Stari Grad on Hvar IslandJasna Jeličić RadonićUniversity of Zagreb, Centre for Croatian Studies, ZagrebA B S T R A C TThe Church of St John in Stari Grad was built within the Greek insula, converted in Roman times, alongside the east-ern gate of the city. Archaeological excavations revealed a unique heritage complex of city walls and residential architecture within which the still preserved northern Early Christian church (St John’s) represents the starting point for the creation and development of the Christianity of the Hvar diocese and the island of Hvar.Key words: St John church, Greek insula converted in Roman times, Early Christian oratory and church, twin Early Christian churches158J. Jeličić Radonić: St John’s Church in Stari Grad on Hvar Island, Coll. Antropol. 43 (2019) 2: 157–161Most of them were stylised leaf and fruit ornaments, as well as tendrils framed with varicoloured slender lines or with broad bands on a white ground. Particularly promi-nent is a fragment with a figural depiction of a bird on a branch. These are on the whole parts of thin partition walls, composed of a lot of fragments of brick bonded with copious use of mortar, and were painted with similar mo-tifs on both sides. Small fragments of mortar might have belonged to the decoration of the ceilings10. Together with the collapsed part of the walls with Roman frescos main-ly coins of the 4th century – Constantius II and Valentian were found, and a few fragments of pottery. On top of this basically Greek structure, converted in Roman times, the complex of Early Christian churches was built. The spe-cific forms of the religious buildings were incorporated into the set urban volumes. This was attended with a con-siderable destruction of the earlier architecture, its walls being used as foundations. Early Christian ChurchProbably the presence of a Christian tradition in the place was responsible for the creation of the first Early Christian church in the 5th century, the modest remains of its semicircular apse and octagonal baptistery being discovered by archaeological research. The church build-ing was erected over a lavishly arranged central space, the walls of which were covered with frescos. On the southern side was a baptistery complex with an octagonal piscina. In this context the function of the northern part of the insula alongside which the first Early Christian church in the 5th century was built can be observed. There is as yet no answer to the question of the existence of an Early Christian oratory created within the residen-tial building, which perhaps would have determined the siting of the first Early Christian architecture in the south-east corner of the city. The parallel existence of the hypothetical oratory and the Early Christian church in the 5th century could be referred to the tradition of twin churches that was a feature of the eastern Adriatic space. This undoubtedly can be traced back to the church of Aquileia, under the jurisdiction of which the church of Salona, which also employed this feature, initially came2. Tending to confirm this is the developed complex of Ear-ly Christian architecture in the mid-6th century, when at the same time a new congregational church was built with a baptismal complex and a martyr church with a Fig. 1. Plan of residential blocks in the south-eastern corner of Pharos with complex of twin Early Christian churches.159J. Jeličić Radonić: St John’s Church in Stari Grad on Hvar Island, Coll. Antropol. 43 (2019) 2: 157–161confessio just on the northern part of this residential structure. (Figure 2)In the middle of the 6th century, then, on the site of the first Early Christian church, a somewhat larger religious building was put up, with a series of rooms on the south side, where there was a new cross-shaped baptistery with consignatory. At the same time and in parallel with this Early Christian church, another, northern, church was built, of similar dimensions, with a cruciform confessio under the altar. So was created a complex compound of twin Early Christian churches that had different func-tions. The main congregational church on the southern side was probably dedicated to St Mary, while the north was connected with the cult of a martyr. The same dedi-catees were retained by the Early Medieval churches. It was only with the Gothic reconstruction that the northern church took on the leading role and the dedicatee of St Mary, which it had until the beginning of the 20th century, listed in the documents as the parish church or “old cathe-dral”. In this context, the southern church building was remodelled into a baptistery, which is why it is dedicated to St John the Baptist. The northern church is today ded-icated to St John the Baptist, previously to St Mary, and it is an open question to whom it was originally dedicated. Probably its patron was the martyr whose relics were in the confessio under the altar. Later alterations and recent conservation workThe historical sources are confirmed by conserva-tional and archaeological research in which the numer-ous remodelling operations of the Early Christian churches were discovered. In the 11th century the build-ings were reconstructed only in the eastern part, com-pletely preserved in the Church of St John. Then inside the apse and nave of the church pylons were added that supported the new semi-calotte and new barrel vaulting. In the 15th century the church was remodelled in Goth-ic style and extended to its original size. In the western part it obtained a new blunt arch, the façade on which there was a rosette was renovated, and a new altar was installed. At that time, because of the digging of graves, the floor level of the whole church was raised. The last alterations were done in the Baroque, which can clearly be seen on the façade, when the level of the floor was also raised, and accordingly also the rose window. Hence we can see in St John’s Church the complex and rich history Fig. 2. Plan of the Early Christian complex in Stari Grad.160J. Jeličić Radonić: St John’s Church in Stari Grad on Hvar Island, Coll. Antropol. 43 (2019) 2: 157–161of Christianity in Stari Grad, Greek Pharos, one of the oldest ancient cities on the eastern shores of the Adri-atic2. The complex conversation works in the Church of St John started in 1979 were carried out with interruptions until 2016. Still surviving from the Early Christian time is the basic body of the church, the apse with the chancel arch and elements of Early Christian furnishing and parts of the floor mosaics. Recently, an altar was installed into which some of the original parts of the Early Chris-tian altar were incorporated; it was consecrated by Mons. Slobodan Štambuk, Bishop of Hvar, Brač and Vis, in the presence of the clergy of Hvar, thus restoring the church to its original function. The placing of the church furnish-ing – two pilasters and capitals on the base of the altar screen contribute to the significance of the Early Chris-tian church, even if they have been slightly shifted from their original positions, but in the immediate vicinity of the reconstructed Early Christian altar. Also belonging to this early period are the conserved geometrical mosaics of the chancel, a simple pattern of a sequence of square fields with interwoven circular ornaments. Figural mosa-ics from the southern church have been presented in front of the altar screen. A mosaic medallion with a depiction of cantharus and doves drinking water is directed towards the chancel, as this symbol of the Eucharist was original-ly positioned. In the opposite direction, towards the con-gregation in the nave, are mosaics, also with symbolic depictions of the source of life in the form of a cantharus. The central mosaic with a pair of peacocks facing each other by a cantharus and two smaller lateral mosaics with canthari from which wind ivy tendrils, also belonged to the space of the presbytery. The presentation of the mosaics below a specially con-structed glass floor and the placing of elements of stone furnishing on the base of the altar screen by the reconstruct-ed altar have united the Early Christian elements found during research into the twin church complex in the south-east part of Pharos. (Figure 3). It was with protective con-servation works on the Church of St John that archaeologi-cal research into the ancient city started; the excavations revealed a unique heritage complex of city walls and resi-dential architecture within which the still preserved north-ern Early Christian church (St John’s) represents the start-ing point for the creation and development of the Christianity of the Hvar diocese and the island of Hvar. R E F E R E N C E S1. JELIČIĆ RADONIĆ, J, KATIĆ, M, Faros – osnivanje antičkog grada I (Književni krug i Filozofski fakultet u Splitu, Split, 2015). — 2. JELIČIĆ RADONIĆ, J., Ranokršćanske dvojne crkve u Starom Gradu na Hvaru (Regionalni zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture, Split, 1994). — 3. BRUNŠMID, J, Natpisi i novac grčkih gradova u Dalmaciji (Književni krug, Split, 1998); — 4. ROBERT, L, Hellenica, 11-12 (1960) 505. — 5. DEROW, PS, Zeitschhrift für Papirologie und Epigraphik 88 (1991) 261. - 5. KUNTIĆ-MAKVIĆ, B.– MAROHNIĆ, J, Natpisi. In: POKLEČKI STOŠIĆ J (Ed.): Antički Grci na tlu Hrvatske (Galerija Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb, 2010). — 6 ZANINOVIĆ, M., The New Latin Inscription from Pharia. In: Actes du VIIe Congres International d'Epigraphie Grecque et Latine, 9-15 septembre 1977, Constantza, Editura Academici Bucuresti Fig. 3. St John’s Church in Stari Grad.AcknowledgementThis paper was translated into English by Graham McMaster.– Les Belles Lettres, Paris – Bucuresti 1979) — 7. ZANINOVIĆ, M, Arheološki radovi i rasprave, 11 (1988) 48. ZANINOVIĆ, M., Ilirski ra-tovi (Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 2015). — 8. GORICKE-LUKIĆ, H., Nalazi rimskog novca u Starom Gradu. In: JELIČIĆ RADONIĆ, J, GORICKE-LUKIĆ, H, MIRNIK, I (Eds): Faros – grčki, grčko-ilirski i rimski novac III (Književni krug, Filozofski fakultet Sveučilište u Splitu, Split 2017). — 9. DUKAT, Z, MIRNIK, I, Katalog rimskog novca s arheoloških istraživanja Farosa. In: JELIČIĆ RADONIĆ, J, GORICKE-LUKIĆ, H, MIRNIK, I (Eds): Faros – grčki, grčko-ilirski i rimski novac III (Književni krug, Filozofski fakultet Sveučilište u Splitu, Split 2017). — 10. JELIČIĆ RADONIĆ, J, Pharos – antički grad, Pharos – antički Stari Grad (Muze-jsko galerijski centar, Zagreb 1995). 161J. Jeličić Radonić: St John’s Church in Stari Grad on Hvar Island, Coll. Antropol. 43 (2019) 2: 157–161J. Jeličić RadonićUniversity of Zagreb, Centre for Croatian Studies, Campus Borongaj, Borongajska cesta 83d, 10000, Zagreb, Croatiae-mail: jjelicicr@hrstud.hrCRKVA SV. IVANA U STAROM GRADU NA HVARUS A Ž E T A KCrkva sv. Ivana u Starom Gradu podignuta je unutar jugoistočnog ugla Farosa i grčke insule uz istočna gradska vrata i glavnu antičku ulicu. Potom, pod rimskim patronatom, grad zadržava izvorne grčke obrise i karakteristike, ali se postepeno romanizira, osobito dolaskom rimskih građana te postaje rimski municipij, a stambeni se blok prvobitne grčke arhitekture popravlja i preuređuje prema novim potrebama rimskih građana. U 5. st. podiže se na lokalitetu prva ranokršćanska crkva čiji su skromni ostaci polukružne apside i oktogonalne krstionice nedavno pronađeni. Sredinom 6. st. se istovremeno podižu nova kongregacijska crkva sa složenim krstioničkim sklopom i ona martirska s konfesijom upravo nad sjevernim dijelom navedenog stambenog objekta. Konzervatorskim i arheološkim istraživanjima (1979.- 2016.) otkrivene su brojne preinake ranokršćanskih crkava. Jedinstveno sačuvana ranokršćanska crkva sv. Ivana predstavlja ishodište nastanka i razvoja kršćanstva Hvarske biskupije i otoka Hvara.

St John’s Church in Stari Grad on Hvar Island

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