Die griechisch-serbische Kirchensymbiose in Norddalmatien vom XV. bis zum XIX. Jahrhundert

Abstract

From the era during which Byzantium lost its last cities in Dalmatia (after 1180), the religious position of the greek communities of those cities became very difficult. But the settlement of Greeks and Serbs in Dalmatia, after the conquest of the Balkans by the Turks, contributed to the revival of the ecclesiastical life of the orthodox population of that area. Megnificent churches are then built which were used in common by both Greeks and Serbs. Among those churches one can easily distinguish the following: The church of Zadar, founded in 1548; the one on the island Hvar, erected in 1561; and the church of Šibenik, built in 1569. Until the beginning of the 18th century the greek population of the dalmatian cities was the outnumbering one. But after the treaties of Karlovich and Pozarevich (1699) it was the Serbian population which outnumbered the greek. Greeks and Serbs participated together in the ecclesiastical government of the orthodox communities in Dalmatia. The two nationalities used to present their cases to the local authorities also in unison. The Greeks regarded the Serbs as allies in the fights against the Huns, while the Serbs thought of the Greeks as the best supporters of their efforts to improve more and more their ecclesiastical life. This admirable symbiosis of Greeks and Serbs resulted in a cultural benefit for both peoples. The existing Greek books speak clearly about this fact, as do also the numerous Ikons of the Italo-Grecian school which are found in the orthodox churches of Dalmatia. These Ikons were painted by known Greek painters who lived in Venice. Some of these renowned painters are: Theodoros Poulakis, Ioannis Apakas, Emmanuel and Constantine Trane and Spyridoh Rapsomanikis. The Greek-Serbian symbiosis in Dalmatia has put its stamp on the Serbian culture of that area, a fact noticeable up to our days.