Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Lastovo

The Church of Saint Cosmas and Damian

The Church of Saint Cosmas and Damian (Croatian: Sv Kuzma i Damjan) is a Roman Catholic church on Lastovo Island off the coast of Croatia.

It is located in the oldest part of the town square and dates back to the 14th century. On the main altar is the painting of Saints Cosmas and Damian from the Italian Master Giacomo Lanfranco. Out of the rest of the paintings, the Pietà, the work of an anonymous Venetian painter from 1545, can be distinguished. Formerly in its place there was a smaller church that dates back from 5th or 6th century.

The pansh Church of St. Cosmas and Damian was constructed on the foundations of an older church. It is first mentioned at the beginning of the 14th century. The triple nave church is the result of construction in two different periods. The central nave is from the second half of the 15th century, while the adjacent nave was added in the 16th and 17th centuries. This expansion feath is evident on the church facade which has three separate roofs and pediment crowned with three bell-towers in the shape of a belfry. They were erected in a Gothic style in the 18th century. The central part of the church was made by Croatian artisans. Amongst them, the most important role had master Radosan who had carved under the church ceiling the 1473 the inscription: RADOSAN FECIT MCCCCLXXIII MADII. Along the church apse a sacristy was added in 1545, white the Neo-Gothic bell tower was completed in 1942. The bell tower was constructed from Lastovo stone. At the base of the bell tower Antun Lastovac's tombstone was incorporated, who happened to be one of the Lastovo chaplains from the 15th century. A statute was signed in the front of the church in 1310. The interior of the church is filied with rich stone furnishings, paintings and artefacts. The church treasury preserves silver and gold-plated Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo chalices, rnonstrances, candle lamps, candle holders and procession crosses as well as unique artworks such a Gothic-Renaissance chalice from the late 15th and early 16th century, the only preserved work by Pavko Antojević in region. Amongst the artworks, special emphasis is given to the Renaissance vessel used for holy water which was ordered by Dobre Dobričević.

Sources

• Lastovo History and Culture