Church of St John the Baptist and Kaštel, Povlja

Povlja is a village on the island of Brač, in the municipality of Selca in Split-Dalmatia County, and above its bay, in the area of Lokve, rises the parish Church of St John the Baptist with its kaštel. The complex is of interest because it combines in one place remains from different periods, from early Christianity to the 20th century.

The church has three naves and was built beside a monumental early Christian complex with a basilica, transept and inscribed apse. The preserved early Christian baptistery, with its baptismal font, stood up to the roof and became the sanctuary of the later church. From the 12th century comes a lintel with a Cyrillic inscription, known as the Povlja Threshold, the work of the master Radonja; today it is kept in the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split. In the time of the Benedictine abbey, a kaštel with a crenellated crown was built above the sanctuary of the early Christian church. The bell tower of the present church dates from 1882, and the south and north naves were added in 1924.

The complex is a protected cultural property and is entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-5514.

Photo: globalquiz.org, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: DGU (centre of the settlement).