The Church of St. Cross Nin

Those who have rented an apartment, a room or a holiday house in Nin know what Nin has and what other cities on the coast have not. But those who will lodge in Nin jet, know something about the Church of St. Cross, because it is apparently quite simple, sacred building, still known as the smallest cathedral in the world. The Church was built in times when fairies and robbers were wondering in the foot of the mountain Velebit, in the 9th century exactly. The parish church is near and the Church of St. Cross is exhibition space and tourist attraction today. But in those days, when it was built, it was the center of spiritual life of this region. It was even more. Liturgical celebrations in itt were scheduled by the precise solar clock and the solar calendar which was the Church itself. For the uninformed eye, imperfections and holes in the walls of the Church, can seem like construction errors. However, every that gap it intentionally carved in stone to record the time passing by, along with the movement of the sun. Therefore, the Church Sv. Cross is often compared with Stonehenge. The church is in the shape of a Greek cross, with oval dome and a series of blind niches. There is the name of the mayor Godeslava engraved above the entrance which is considered to be the oldest Croatian inscription. The prince's palace was located near the Church of St. Cross and the church served as the prince's chapel. The Diocese of Nin of those times was very important with the findings of over 170 old Croatian coat of arms in the area confirming it. Glorious is the name of Gregory I. Nin (900th to 925th AD) who did not give up of the Croatian language and Glagolitic script in the liturgy.
Solar greeting to autumn is the event which celebrates the relationship between architecture and astronomy and it is held here in the Church of St. Cross in Nin, at the first day of autumn every year. on September 23. Festival of sun and light, which also take place in Nin in June, presents art works created in honor of the sun and life which could not exist without light. So, meet the fall in Nin, to the bare starting point of the glory of the sun, which goes to the road of recovery on its eternally repetitive cycle, so it could fall renewed back in our arms in spring.