History

Not far from the early Christian church of St. Martin at the cemetary is the site called Mijovilovac, which indicates that the small pre-Romanesque hexafoil church (with six radially arranged apses), whose remains are still visible there, was dedicated to St. Michael. Remains of a Roman villa rustica have also been identified on the site. This small church dates from the 9th century and probably belonged to a monastery. It had a rectangular narthex on the west side. The round apses are decorated with slightly projecting pilasters. The central space was domed. Fragments of the pre-Romanesque stone church decorations have been found on the site.

Stone tablet

Aerial view

Entrance

Ostaci

Description

The church of St. Michael belongs to a group of eight buildings with similar characteristics from the pre-Romanesque period in Croatia. They are all small round structures with six radially arranged apses projecting from the central part. The main apse is slightly wider. From this grouop of eight churches, five are located in the north of Dalmatia - in and around Zadar, while three are in central Dalmatia. The experts usually see the early Christian baptistery of the Zadar cathedral as the model for this type of building, because of its similar plan - central hexagonal exterior, with six round niches inside.

Plan

Info

  • Nikola Jakšić: Benkovac i okolica u srednjem vijeku
  • Tomislav Marasović: Graditeljstvo starohrvatskog doba u Dalmaciji