Ranokršćanska crkva ispod crkve sv. Vida i crkva sv. Vida
(Crkva sv. Vida)
Ranokršćanska crkva ispod crkve sv. Vida i crkva sv. Vida
(Crkva sv. Vida)
Kršćanstvo u Naronu dolazi rano, o čemu svjedoče i ostatci crkve nastale u 5. stoljeću na mjestu današnje crkve sv. Vida. Crkva je imala složeni tlocrt kojeg je činio brod s polukružnom apsidom na začelju, ojačanom kontraforima, u kojoj se nalazilo svetište te predvorje na pročelju, a s južne i sjeverne strane broda nalazili su se aneksi, tj. pomoćne prostorije koje su služile za liturgijske svrhe, dajući tako jednobrodnoj crkvi zgled trobrodne bazilike. Najznačajniji je aneks baptisterij, tj. krstionica u kojoj je sačuvan osmerokutni krsni zdenac koji je bio obložen hidrauličkom žbukom oslikanom imitacijom različitih vrsta mramora. Zanimljivo je da se u zapadnom zidu današnje crkve sačuvao dio zida te zazidana vrata gljivastog oblika. Osim toga pronađen je i velik broj ulomaka kamenog crkvenog namještaja bazilike kao što su ulomci oltarne pregrade, kapiteli i slično. Nakon napuštanja bazilike na njenim ruševinama u kasnom srednjem vijeku nastaje groblje. Nakon toga, u ranom novom vijeku, moguće još za vrijeme turske vlasti dolinom Neretve tijekom 17. stoljeća, nad ostatcima groblja i bazilike, prateći dijelom njezine zidove nastaje današnja crkva sv. Vida, svetca po kojemu je mjesto dobilo ime. Radi se o maloj jednobrodnoj crkvi s kvadratnom apsidom na začelju te zvonikom na preslicu na pročelju kakve su karakteristične za sakralnu arhitekturu šireg dalmatinskog područja. Posebnost čini trijem te dva velika kvadratna prozora na pročelju, a zanimljivo je da je jedno od zvona potječe iz početka 16. stoljeća.
Early Christian Church below St. Vitus Church; St. Vitus Church
The Christianity came to Narona early, which is witnessed by the remnants of the church created in the 5th century at the place of today’s St. Vitus Church. The church had a complex floor plan comprised of a nave with a semi-circular apse at the end, fortified by buttresses in which there was a sanctuary and an antechamber on the front, while from the Southern and the Northern side of the nave there were annexes, i.e. auxiliary rooms used for liturgical purposes, giving thus the single-nave church the appearance of a three nave basilica. The most significant is the annex of the baptistery, i.e. the baptistery in which the octagonal baptismal font is preserved that used to be coated in hydraulic plaster painted in imitations of different types of marble. It is interesting that, in the western wall of the today’s church, a part of the wall and a bricked off door in the shape of a mushroom are preserved. Moreover, a large number of fragments of the stone church furniture of the basilica were found such as the fragments of the altar septa, capitals etc. After leaving the basilica in ruins, a cemetery emerged in the Late Middle Ages. Thereafter, in the Early Modern Age, possibly during the time of the Turkish rule in the Neretva valley in the course of the 17th century, today’s St. Vitus Church emerged on the remnants of the cemetery and the basilica, partly following its walls. St. Vitus is a saint after which the town got its name. This is a small single-nave church with a square apse at the end and a bell tower in the shape of a distaff at the front typical for the sacral architecture of the wider Dalmatian area. A particularity is a porch and two large square windows at the front; it is interesting that one of the bells dates back to the beginning of the 16th century.