Innovative Stone Vaults in Dalmatia in Antiquity and Renaissance

Abstract

The most important historical structures in Dalmatia, region in the Mediterranean part of Croatia, listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, are the Roman Emperor Diocletian’s Palace, which marks the beginning of the monumental large-scale architecture in stone in this region, and the Cathedral of St James in Šibenik, which is the highest achievement of stone vault construction in Dalmatia. The preserved vaults of Diocletian’s Palace show variety of vault types, in variety of materials. The most interesting stone vault in the Palace is the vault of the small Temple of Jupiter. The coffered barrel vault, assembled of relatively large elements, influenced the form and decoration of two vaults in the nearby town of Trogir, but also the unique vaults of the Šibenik Cathedral. The thin vaults of the Šibenik Cathedral are unique for their method of construction (assembling large thin stone elements into slender stone arches) and for their mechanical behavior, different from massive masonry vaults. Although different from the vault of the Temple of Jupiter in many aspects, it is still believed that the stone vault of the Jupiter’s Temple was an inspiration for the barrel vaults of the Šibenik Cathedral. The wooden vaults “a carena di nave” have been mentioned as another possible source of inspiration. The study of recent scientific literature on various techniques of Roman vaulting brought about the new hypothesis on the possible origin of constructional details and on the development of the original building method of the vaults of the Šibenik Cathedral.