Graditeljstvo Lovrana u kasnom srednjem i ranijem novom vijeku
Architecture of Lovran in the late Middle Ages and early modern period

Summary/Abstract: Based on the review of existing studies on urbanism and architecture of Lovran, on meticulous field work and analysis of both published and unpublished graphic sources, new observations on the architecture of the old town of Lovran, its settlement and historic area of the commune of Lovran are presented. The study chronollogically concentrates on the late medieval and early modern period encompassing stylistic features of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Thematically, it mostly deals with a thorough analysis of zoning issues: relations between the town, its settlement and the port, communications, intersections and focal points, precise dating, orientation and construction of partly conserved town fortifications with special emphasis on the typology of residential architecture. The study proposes new dating of the bellfry within the compound of the St. George’s minster in the Renaissance period and highlights the urbanistic significance of the porch in its front. As regards the dating issues of the Lovran fortifications and towers, the study introduces and elaborates in a comparative way, an assumption that they had been erected mostly in the period of late Middle Ages and Renaissance and not earlier as it has been believed so far. The exact locations of the towers are precisely established based on the analysis of graphic sources and current state of the terrain. The work also points to the existence of the fairly well - preserved portions of walls with arrow loops that have not been noted so far. The study reveals the completely unknown layer of representative, late Gothic – Renaissance residential architecture by means of urban analysis and the remains of architectonic sculpture. Further, major urban changes are described, such as construction of larger houses with enclosed yards placed alongside the fortification walls in the last quarter of the 17th century and the flourishing of style architecture during the first decades of 18th century. The approach to the study of Baroque architecture is yet again stylistic and comparative. A brief description of the degradation of walls and other changes occurring in the first decades of the 19th and later towards the turn of the century is presented as well as a historic portrayal of the settlement in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, before radical alterations that took place during the late 19th and 20th century. The study suggests different dating of St. Trinity Church, goes on to suggest the location of some lost churches and draws attention to as yet unexplored examples of Baroque country architecture within the historic area of the Lovran commune.

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