Capuchin Church of Our Lady of Lourdes

address: 5 Kapucinske stube
Period: Historicism
Kind: Immovable material heritage
Century: 20
Year: 1929
Purpose: sacral

The Capuchin Church was built intermittently during thirty years according to the idea by the architect Cornelio Budinich from Rijeka. 

On the initiative of the Capuchin monks, the construction of the church started on an inclined ground next to the monastery garden on the former Square Zachy. The first designs for dual neo-Gothic basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes were made by Giovanni Maria Curet. According to those, in 1908, the lower church of Mary The Consoler of the Afflicted was dug in and it would serve as the basis for the upper church. 

Lower church is a small, three-aisled church with narrow vaults, while the upper elegant three-aisled basilica has well-defined neo-Gothic apses with colourful stained-glass windows. The church vestibule contains prominent wall decorations of Romulo Vennucci with motifs of angels.

Above the main façade, according to the original author's idea, there should have been a bell tower with a large angel. The pedestal of the unfinished lighthouse contains the white statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, the work by Anton Marijetić.

According to the commissioner's wish, the new church was supposed to remind of the Lourdes sanctuary. Therefore, Budinich used various materials, iron and reinforced concrete, as well as the characteristics of Medieval architecture to which he added the Venetian Gothics, decorative architectural sculpture and red brick walls, which gave historicistic characteristics to the church.

 

Valorization:

The church is a unique example of eclecticism in Rijeka, with emphasis on neo-Gothic form. It is not included in the List of Immobile Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia. It is well-preserved considering the fact that it is used for liturgical purposes.  

 

Tags: capuchinchurchofourladyoflourdes, historicism