St. Peter's Basilica Church

St. Peter's Basilica Church

Ruins of the church's eastern wall
Basic information
Location Stari Trg, Mitrovica, Kosovo
Affiliation Roman Catholic Church
District Kosovska Mitrovica District
Status ruin
Heritage designation Protected Monuments of Culture, Serbia
Architectural description
Architectural type Gothic architecture
Completed 1303
Specifications
Materials Stone

St. Peter's Church (Albanian: Kisha e Shën Pjetrit), known as the Latin Church (Serbian Cyrillic: Латинска црква) or the Saxon Church (Сашка црква), is an old Roman Catholic Church built in the 13th century, near Mitrovica in Kosovo. It is a Protected Monument of Culture since 1958 by the Republic of Serbia,[1] and protected as a Cultural Heritage by the Republic of Kosovo.[2]

The church was built by Saxon miners and Catholic merchants from the maritime cities during the Kingdom of Serbia.[1] It was to serve the Catholic community needs and was firstly mentioned in 1303, in conjuction with the town of Trepča. This indicates that the presence of Catholic community dates back in the area to much earlier, thus at least to the 13th century. Written records hint that the church was active until the 16th century, despite the fact that the miners started operations in Trepča in the beginning of the 15th century, which hints to the fact that in the 13th century the area was populated with catholic people. During this period, along with the church of Saint Peter, the Catholic Church of Santa Maria is also mentioned in Trepča, and in 1448, four Catholic priests are mentioned. In the 21st century the church is almost entirely in ruins and only the old part of the perimeter walls remains. The only wall standing is the main part of eastern wall, with three apses. The building is Basilica type. They shape and construction type of the walls is indicative of Byzantine influence.[3][4]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Peter's Basilica Church, Stari trg.

Notes

a. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References

  1. 1 2 Spomenici.
  2. ↑ Ministry of Culture of Kosovo.
  3. ↑ List of the cultural heritage placed under temporary protection (PDF), Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports of Kosovo
  4. ↑ Zhvillimi lokal permes trashegimenise [Local development through heritage] (PDF) (in Albanian), Council of Europe, 2015

Sources

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