Church of St Luke
Church of St Luke is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Kotor audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~30 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Kotor Kotor guide
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About Church of St Luke
One of Kotor's oldest surviving buildings: a tiny Romanesque church from 1195 whose floor is paved with graves, and which for a time held Catholic and Orthodox altars together.
The Church of St Luke stands on the Square of St Luke in the northern part of Kotor's Old Town. It was built in 1195, during the reign of the Serbian grand prince Stefan Nemanja, and funded by a local layman, Mavro (Mauro) Kacafrangi, rather than by the state. The small single-nave building is Romanesque with Byzantine features, and fragments of twelfth-century frescoes survive inside. It is counted among the oldest structures preserved largely intact in the town.
Originally Roman Catholic, the church was given to the Orthodox community around the mid-seventeenth century, while its Latin altar was retained, so both rites were served there until the Latin altar was removed in 1810 under the Napoleonic administration; it has been Orthodox since. The floor holds seventeen numbered graves used during a period of siege and plague. The main iconostasis was painted in the seventeenth century by Dimitrije Daskal, and an adjoining chapel is dedicated to St Spyridon. The church belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Did you know? For roughly a century and a half, from the mid-1600s until 1810, St Luke's kept a Catholic altar and an Orthodox one side by side, and served both rites under a single roof.
How long should you spend at Church of St Luke?
Plan about ~30 min at Church of St Luke. That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Church of St Luke worth visiting?
Church of St Luke is one of the 12 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Kotor, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
Nearby stops in Kotor
Day 2 of the Kotor in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Church of St Luke
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