THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. TRYPHON IN KOTOR AND THE BENEDICTINE CHURCH OF ST. MICHAEL ON PREVLAKA NEAR TIVAT – COMMENTS ON THE DATE AND THE ORIGIN OF DESIGN

Sa？etak This paper discusses the origin of the architectural design of the Romanesque cathedral of St. Tryphon in Kotor (1124 - 1166), comprising a central nave with two aisles and three apses, and a dome placed at its center. The possibility of Lombard features, primarily expressed in the design of the alternating double-bay vault support system of the side-aisles, achieved by an indirect transfer via the churches of the Adriatic central Italian hinterland, is examined here once again in terms of the lack of reference to the earlier interpretations in the recent reviews of the problem. The same applies to the question of the interpretation of the source of the two facade bell towers, originating at the mother church of the Benedictine order at Monte Cassino. The back wall of the Benedictine church of St. Michael on Prevlaka near Tivat, also in the Bay of Kotor, with lateral semicircular apses enclosed with straight walls, traces its inspiration to the famous Cluny II church from the second half of the 10th century. In the case of the Prevlaka church, such imitation indicates consistency, given that a similar influence on the Apennine architecture of the 11th century did not result in identical solutions. The architectural features of the central nave with two aisles and three apses from the Dubrovnik area were taken as precursors of equivalent appearances along the eastern Adriatic coast, in the climate of the first-stage development of the Romanesque style in the first half of the 11th century. The corresponding idea of a nave with two side-aisles and three apses, though less uniformed, was realized around the same time on the Benedictine church of St. Michael on Prevlaka