Benedictine nuns have been praying and working in this monastery for almost a thousand years. They are an integral part of this complex cultural property and a true living heritage. The monastery was founded in the second half of the 11th century by abbess Čika, a member of the Zadar noble family Madil. It was bestowed upon her by the Croatian King Petar Krešimir IV. The Church of St Mary, which is the main building of the monastery complex, was built in the Early Romanesque style and consecrated in 1091. Despite numerous reconstructions, a large portion of its original structure has been preserved until the present. In the initial decades of the 16th century the church was extended and the southern and front facade were constructed in the forms of the Venetian Renaissance. The interior was redecorated in the Late Baroque style between 1742 and 1744. The first Croatian-Hungarian king Coloman bestowed the bell tower and the capitulary hall upon the new abbess Vekenega, Čika's daughter. According to the engraved inscription on the cornice of the first floor of the bell tower and others in the capitulary hall, they were built between 1105 and 1111 after the victory and peace treaty. These two buildings were the earliest monuments of the mature Romanesque style in Dalmatia. The tomb of abbess Vekenega is situated in the capitulary hall. In the 19th century the church and the capitulary hall were extensively redecorated, and in the Second World War they were partially destroyed. They were restored after extensive conservation and restoration works in the 1970s. The nuns reside in the eastern wing of the monastery, whereas the western and northern wings house the Permanent Exhibition of Sacred Art (also known as the Gold and Silver of Zadar) with a comprehensive collection of all kinds of religious artworks from the Early Middle Ages to the 19th century. This collection is one of the main cultural properties of the Republic of Croatia. The Archaeological Museum is situated in a modern building directly alongside the western wing of the monastery, it holds prehistoric, ancient and medieval collections of impressive artefacts, which are precious interpreters of the historical development of Zadar and North Dalmatia.

Type of Data Point - Publicly Available Information

St Mary's Benedictine Monastery - Public Info

Visit page of the element - St Mary's Benedictine Monastery

Inserted: 13-02-2023 07:02:29