Church of Holy Cross

About

Church of the Holy Cross (Croatian: Crkva svetog Križa) is a Croatian Pre-Romanesque Catholic church originating from the 9th century in Nin.

The church is that of a central type, it features the Croatian interlace (or simply "troplet") and a carved name of the župan (count) of Nin "Godečaj", who administered the county of Nin during the time of the Croatian principality. He built the church next to his local seat in the 9th-century.

The church is known under the moniker of "the smallest cathedral in the world." The name comes from the fact that it was once the seat of the bishop of Nin, a historical position which ceased to exist in the 18th century.

According to a theory from an art historian Mladen Pejaković, the design has an intentionally unbalanced elliptical form designated to "follow" the position of the Sun, retaining the functionality of a calendar and sundial.