Požega cathedral – St. Theresa of Avila

Place: Požega

Photo: Destinacije.com

Description:

At the start of the 20th century, when the famous Croatian painter, art historian and the first croatian education minister, Iso Kršnjavi started evaluation of late baroque sacral buildings in Croatia from the era of Maria Theresia, he had especially pointed out the St. Theresa church in Požega. More specifically, in 1902, a book titled “Art in words and pictures in Austria-Hungary” was published in Vienna. A separate chapter in the book, “Croatian art”, was written by Kršnjavi, and there he praised uniqueness of this church.

St. Theresa church was privately funded by Zagreb bishop Franjo Thauszy. He donated 80.000 forints towards building this church, instead of restoration of the Požega fortress, which was his property. Building permit was given by empress Maria Theresia on 11th of July 1754. She decided that the church was to be dedicated to St. Theresa of Avila and that it was to be built using building materials that were to be extracted from abandoned warehouses and Požega barracks. Its foundation-stone was laid on the 28th of June 1756. The church was built for seven years, and it was consecrated on the 24th of July 1763. bishop Thauszy.

The beauty and splendor of the baroque church is best attested by a record that says when bishop Alapović visited the church at the end of the 18th century, he was so excited that he called out (in Latin): “Oh, you Italian who have built this temple, where your bones lie, so I could bless them!”

No one knows who had built the church. It is only known that the plans for the building were sent by the empress Maria Theresia herself. Croatian and Požega’s great contemporary painter and art historian, academician Matko Peić researched Požega architecture and concluded that “much of the architecture of Požega baroque was built by travelling Italian masters who have given the facades of the main square buildings characteristic arching forms (bolte) which is known in the architecture of Padua in Italy.

They have, according to Peić, probably built St. Theresa church too “equally clear in the horizontal and the vertical axis”.

Splendor of playful baroque and rococo
The interior of the Požega cathedral is decorated in style of playful baroque and rococo. The church is dominated by St. Theresa altar whose grandiosity represents rare example of baroque-rococo piece in Croatia. It was donated and consecrated by bishop Franjo Thauszy on the occasion of the consecration of the church itself. Altar paintings made by unknown authors were received from Vienna. Among other altars, especially noteworthy are St. John Nepomucen altar, gift from the then Croatian Viceroy Nadasdy, and St. Michael Archangel altar, gift from Kutjevo parish priest Josip Maurović, native of Požega. There is also a beautiful baroque pulpit, also a gift from bishop Thauszy. The pulpit bears his coat of arms. Church organ have been built in Josip Brandl factory in Maribor, and are in place since year 1900. They were restored in 1966. Baroque inventory is enriched by rococo pews carved out of oak, baptismal font and confessionals.

The beauty of the church is supplemented by the wall paintings made in 1898 and 1899. by famous Croatian painters Celestin Medović and Oton Iveković. They made the painting of the Trinity above the main altar together, while on the ceiling of the sanctuary there is painting of St. Theresa ascending to the heaven by Medović. Medović also painted the evangelists St. Matthew and St. Mark on the ceiling of the main nave, Jesus on the Mount of Olives on the ceiling of the right nave, and St. Cyril in the main nave. Iveković painted evangelists St. Luke and St. John on the main nave ceiling, St. Methodius in the main nave, Annunciation in the right nave, and St. Cecilia above the choir. Above the façade there is a slender bell-tower, 63 metres tall. The church got its present appearance at the end of the 19th century when six octagonal stained-glass windows have been added.

Among the mass vestments and vessels, most noteworthy are the gifts from empress Maria Theresia, who was especially fond of St. Theresa church. There are seven chalices from 17th and 18th century (gold plated silver), three monstrances, one of them gothic, and a luxurious mantle, made in Vienna in 1763, also a gift from the empress, and many other items.