Christianisation of mosques in Dalmatia. Recontextualisation of sacral architecture

The following article examines nine cases of mosque-to-church conversion in Early Modern Venetian Dalmatia incorporating them into the field of architectural history and the discussion on the conversion of sacral spaces not as curiosities but as multi-layered monuments. Emphasis is put on Christianisation as an adaptation process of these monuments to the new political and religious context. The process is explored through the comparative analysis of known examples and surviving sources from regional State, Diocesan, and Franciscan archives. After a short survey of other known cases in the region, the former mosques in Klis, Vrgorac, and Drniš are explored in-depth, followed by the analysis of known 18th-century cases of the hybridity of architectural forms in the Drniš area. Observations are made on how the contemporaries read the form of originally Ottoman Islamic sacral monuments and how they adapt them both semantically and physically to Catholic (and Venetian) narratives and practices. The dedication to the Virgin (prevalently of the Rosary) is linked to Venetian popular politics invoking victories held to be at her intercession. Various material changes made to Dalmatian mosques are comparable to those in newly acquired Habsburg lands, providing a basis for future wider analysis.