Church of the Holy Cross , also known as "the smallest cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 in the world", is a Croatian Pre-Romanesque Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 church originating from the 9th century in Nin

Nin, Croatia

Nin is a town in the Zadar county of Croatia, population 1,256 , total municipality population 4,603 .Nin was historically important as a centre of a Christian Bishopric in the Middle Ages. Up to the abolition and Latinization imposed by King Tomislav in the first half of the 10th century, Nin was...

. According to a theory from an art historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 Mladen Pejaković, the design has an intentionally unbalanced elliptical

Ellipse

In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...

 form designated to "follow" the position of the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

, retaining the functionality of a calendar

Calendar

A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...

 and sundial

Sundial

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...

. In its beginning, in the time of the Croatian principality

Littoral Croatian Duchy

Littoral Croatia or Dalmatian Croatia is a name for a region of what used to be a medieval Croatian principality which was established in the former Roman province of Dalmatia...

, it was used as a royal chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 of the duke

Duke

A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

's courtyard

Courtyard

A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....

 nearby.

The church is that of a central type, it features the Croatian wattle

Croatian wattle

The Croatian wattle, known as the pleter or troplet in Croatian, is a type of interlace, most characteristic for its three-ribbon pattern. It is one of the most often used patterns of pre-romanesque Croatian art...

 (or simply "troplet") and a carved name of the Croatian župan "Godečaj".

See also

• Nin, Croatia
  Nin, Croatia
  Nin is a town in the Zadar county of Croatia, population 1,256 , total municipality population 4,603 .Nin was historically important as a centre of a Christian Bishopric in the Middle Ages. Up to the abolition and Latinization imposed by King Tomislav in the first half of the 10th century, Nin was...
  
  
• Architecture of Croatia
  Architecture of Croatia
  The architecture of Croatia has roots in a long history: the Croats have inhabited the area for thirteen centuries, but there are important remnants of the earlier periods still preserved in the country.- Ancient heritage :...
  
  
• Church of St. Donatus
  Church of St. Donatus
  The Church of St. Donatus is a church located in Zadar, Croatia. Its name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. Originally named the church of the Holy Trinity, in the 15th century it was...
  
  
• Church of Holy Salvation, Cetina