St Nicholas Church in Varoš (Sveti Mikula)

The church of St Nicholas in Veli Varoš is perhaps the best preserved medieval church in Split. Though scholars debate whether it dates from the late eleventh or the early twelfth century, the church was the original nucleus for the small satellite settlement called Stagnja (lat. Stagnum, eng. swamp) from which Veli Varoš (Borgo Grande) eventually developed.

The lintel of the doorway records the name of the donor John and his second wife Tiha, while another inscription on the inside of the church also records the name of John’s sister Stana. It is unclear whether it is the same church that was gifted to the Benedictines in 1068 by a woman called Nemira.

The church is an important part of the corpus of the early Romanesque churches of Croatia. It ground-plan reveals the shape of the Greek cross, with a rectangular dome rising from its center held by four columns repurposed from Diocletian’s palace.

Unfortunately, though the church is always approachable, it is usually open only on the feast day of St Nicholas on December 6.

The inscription on the lintel:
+ STATVIT HOC TEMPLVM CHR(IST)I DE MUNERE CELSUM
ILLVSTRIS CLARVS D(OMI)NO DONANTE IOHANNES
CONIVGE CUM TICHA PRIMAM POST ALTERA DUCTA
SCRIPTA SIT LAVS RARA…IE SERENA HIS REQUEM POSTCAT PLEBIS L..OSC.

The inscription on the altar fence
+HANC DOMV(m) UT IN SVPERIORI LIMINE HABETVR IOH(anne)S CV(m) SECVNDA VXORE C(on) CQESTV PRI(me)E SED MORTE P(ra)VEN(ta) CV(m) SVI(s) SORORIB(vs) STA(tvit……).