The Church of Saint John the Baptist was originally constructed as a pagan temple to Roman god Jupiter. In the fourth century the temple was converted to a Christian Church. Many bishops of the city were buried here. Statue of the patron saint of the church was made by Ivan Mestrovic. It is located in the western part of Diocletian's Palace, close to Peristyle, the central square of the Imperial Complex. It was built at the end of the 3rd century, at the time of the building of the Emperor's palace, and probably already in the 6th century it was dedicated to the baptistery of St. John the Baptist. Just before the entrance to the temple there is one of the twelve sphinxes brought from Egypt under the orders of Emperor Diocletian.
The Temple of Jupiter is located in the western part of Diocletian's Palace near the Peristyle, the central square of the imperial complex, in the street Kraj sv. John 1.
History
The Temple of Jupiter was built from
295 to 305, as part of the palace of Emperor Diocletian. It was
probably dedicated to the supreme Roman deity and Diocletian's
divine father Jupiter. The temple is located west of the central
part of the palace, which was a religious part, and which was
reached by a ceremonial approach. Since the emperor unplannedly
abdicated from the throne in 305 and arrived from Nicomedia to the
palace, the final works on the construction of the palace were
interrupted, so parts of the temple remained unfinished.
During late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the temple was
turned into a baptistery dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and the
crypt is dedicated to St. Thomas.
In the 13th century, inside
the baptistery there was a baptismal well made of parts of the altar
partition from the 11th century, which was originally located in the
cathedral. On one of the marble slabs is carved the oldest depiction
of the Croatian king, Krešimir IV. or Zvonimir. In the interior, two
sarcophagi have been preserved in which the archbishops of Split,
Ivan II, are buried. (10th century) and Lovro († 1099). Inside is a
large bronze statue of St. John the Baptist.
The
barrel-shaped coffered vault of the temple influenced Dalmatian
early Renaissance art with its shape, which is best illustrated by
the example of Alešije's baptistery and the chapel of Blessed John
in Trogir. An early Romanesque bell tower was built over the vault
in the 11th century, similar to the one still in the church of Our
Lady of the Bell Tower above the Iron Gate, which was removed around
1840 in accordance with classicist aspirations for the purification
of ancient monuments and buildings.
In 1907, several houses
on the west and south sides were removed, so that today the temple
is free of outbuildings, except for the one on the northwest corner
on which one house still leans. In those years, joints were filled
and the surface was reconstructed with cement mortar.
A black
granite sphinx was placed in front of the temple in 1928. In front
of the façade stood a porch on six pillars, and the high pedestal of
the temple hid the crypt which had been converted into the chapel of
Sts. Tome. The roof above the vault was never constructed. The early
Romanesque bell tower, erected in the 11th century, was removed
around 1840. Inside is a baptismal font composed of marble pluteus
of an 11th-century altar partition, originally from the cathedral.
On one of the plaques is the earliest depiction of the Croatian king
in stone sculpture.