The relief of Silvanus and Nymphs and the fragment of the pre-romanesque gable from the St. Anthony and Rochus church in Gornja Podstrana near Split

Authors

  • Dražen Maršić Faculty of Philosophy in Zadar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15291/radovipov.2264

Abstract

St. Anthony and Rochus church is the old parish church in the village Gornja Podstrana. In its facade it has built in the cult image of the shepherd god Silvanus and his female companions Nymphs. The fragment of the pre-Romanesque gable decorated with the cross and two birds is built in its rear side. The former monument, together with several other Roman monuments built in the church as the spoliae, may suggest the existence of Panaeum on the very place of the church or neraby. The latter one implies the existence of one pre-Romanesque church that could be connected with the data in Supetarski kartular concerning the St. George's lands. The author hypothesizes that such a continuity of a cult place can suggest that at the same place also existed an early Christian church. There is a great number of examples that demonstrate that the first Christian communities frequently chose the pagan cult places (so the Panaei, too) to be locations for their churches. The St. Anthony and Rochus church in the late Middle Ages was probably the former centre of the St. George's parish that disappeared in 1499 due to the integration with the St. Martin's parish. If that was a case, the inscription dated in 1666 should refer to the thorough renewal of this church.

References

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Original scientific paper