History and culture/ Lapidarium Gallery

Lapidarium Gallery

  • Omišalj, Put Dubca 19

This collection of movable cultural heritage forms a meaningful whole together with the monuments preserved in situ in its immediate surroundings, especially those located on the exterior and in the interior of the Parish Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Omišalj. Of particular importance is the inscription recording the construction of the aqueduct of Fulfinum, an ancient town that once stretched along the coast of Sepen Bay, southwest of Omišalj. The inscription from the year 94 mentions Emperor Domitian as the founder of the aqueduct. His name and titles were, as elsewhere in the Roman Empire, officially erased by decision of the Senate (damnatio memoriae) — in this case literally chiselled off the stone surface — leaving only the name of Lucius Sextius Dexter, a veteran of the Third Praetorian Cohort, who, probably as a local inhabitant of Fulfinum, was a donor of some of the works on the aqueduct. Also noteworthy are fragments of early medieval church furnishings from the early 9th century, belonging to a church that preceded the present-day Parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Particularly interesting is a tombstone with a Glagolitic inscription and a relief depiction of symbols of abbatial dignity from 1477. It was made for Stephen of Zadar, the last abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St Nicholas, which once stood in front of the entrance to Omišalj. The significance of these stone fragments and other heritage of Omišalj is explained in greater detail in the cultural and historical guide The Unknown Omišalj, which can be obtained in the exhibition area.