Mestroviceve Crikvine Kastilac_Eng

After the transfer to the ownership of the People’s Republic of Croatia with a grant dated 31 January 1952, by which Meštrović donated to the Croatian people his houses in Zagreb and Split, the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Otavice and the western part of the Crikvina estate in his ownership, Kastelet. Interestingly, however, the artist himself objected to naming the object by that name. His assumption, namely, that there are remains of old churches on the land – in the eastern part of the complex the foundations of the old church (which was later disputed) and the church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and in the western part of the newly built church of St. Križa, for the construction of which the stone of the old building was used – prompted Meštrović to name the complex Crikvina: the remains of old churches. He highlighted that name in his grant. He explains the reasoning of this name to the art historian Cvita Fisković (director of the Conservation Institute for Dalmatia, under whose jurisdiction the Meštrović and Crikvina Gallery was at the time), in a letter from 1955:

‘Meštrović’s castle’ cannot be, because I did not build it as a ‘castle’ or for myself, but as a small endowment for our people, giving it content that is closest to its spiritual traditions, and which also shows the drama of man, our light.

You know that places where there is only tradition are so often called that there were some churches there. That was one reason, and the other, to be honest, was that the people of Split, in their laziness to think, would not call it ‘Kaštelet Capogrosso’. These customs of theirs often do not agree with our character, and give, at least inadvertently, a foreign character to this piece of Croatian land to which the foreigner often referred.

I liked Crikvina, because it is an old Croatian word. Let the local historians write what they want in their studies, but they are not allowed to write ‘Kaštelet’ through my reliefs from the life of Jesus of Nazareth, even if it is an addition. ”