Museum

Stalna izložba crkvene umjetnosti

Name: Stalna izložba crkvene umjetnosti
Address: 1 Trg opatice Čike, Zadar, Zadarska županija, HR

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Tips from locals

Jana

June 28, 2016

Gold and Silver - Ecclesiastic Art Museum

Natalia

June 1, 2016

The exhibition "Gold and Silver of Zadar", initiated in 1951 by the Croatian writer Miroslav Krleza, was transformed in 1976 into a permanent display of the Permanent Exhibition of Ecclesiastic Art in the Benedictine Convent of St. Mary in Zadar, one of the first capital buildings of Croatian culture. On the occasion of the exhibition, Krleza wrote one of his best essays, in which he glorified the treasures of Zadar. The gold and silver of Zadar shine on a surface area of about 1200 m2 in 8 modernly equipped halls, including the reconstructed interior of the old Croatian Church of St. Nediljica from the 11th century. Also included are manuscripts, sculptures, embroideries, tapestry, reliefs, etc., as evidence of the rich past of Zadar from the 8th to 18th centuries, as a town which was an important cultural center, particularly in the Middle Ages. Joys, hopes, patience, suffering, and faith of the tumultuous era of this region´s history are woven into the relics and chalices, sculptures, paintings, and embroideries. This priceless treasure has been preserved by the Benedictine nuns throughout the years, as well as during the Patriotic Defense War, and some valuable exhibit items (lace, church fabrics embroidered with golden threads) were produced by the nuns´ hands. The particular preciousness, charm, and importance of the exhibited items is in the fact that they are, to a great extent, works of the locally known and unknown masters or are closely connected with Zadar and the Zadar region. The Permanent Exhibition of Ecclesiastic Art places Zadar among the great cultural capitals as such a collection of valuable and exquisite religious works of art all in one place can only be seen in the greatest European centers.