Have you ever felt like someone was watching you? From a height?
Well, if you walk down the main street of the city of Osijek (northwest Croatia) you might experience this feeling. It is enough to look towards this big red building and realize that you are not alone. On the facade of this church, saints are standing calmly; they can only instil peace in you. But there are hidden creatures that are a little more terrifying...
We talk about gargoyles... They watch over this impressive building!
It is difficult to spot them as there are many decorative elements on the facade of this neo-Gothic cathedral.
Cathedral...? Am I sure I want to call it a cathedral?
The truth is that it is not. Many people would think that the parish church of St Peter and Paul the Apostle in Osijek is a cathedral, as was the case with me too. However, it is a co-cathedral which means that another church has that title in a different city (Đakovo) as the archbishop of the Đakovo-Osijek archdiocese sits there and not in Osijek.
This issue about the name may sound complicated, so let's just continue to call this building a church or a cathedral (although now you know it's not exactly a cathedral).
We anyway want to talk about gargoyles. 😁
From this angle, you may spot a few... and from this side too.
{sorry, the sun was right behind the church, it was not the best position for taking some photos of the front of the building}
If it is still difficult to see the scary creatures let me bring you a few from a closer view.
Some of them were damaged. Poor little guys...
They are placed above the side entrances to the church but in my opinion, that is contradictory as people who want to enter the church may be scared away by these guys.
If you are brave and not scared of gargoyles, you get the pass to the interior of this tall neo-Gothic construction. You will not regret it, I assure you.
The church was built in 1898 but the interior was finished some 50 years later, in the middle of the 20th century. I was amazed by the arches and all the beautiful stained glass windows. The sun was too strong so in the images, it can't be appreciated how colourful and full of details the stained glass windows were. Still, I hope you can get an idea...
On the opposite side of the main altar, there was the organ of the church. Unfortunately, some hanging lamps made it impossible to photograph this majestic instrument from afar.
The solution was to make a few steps closer.
Standing almost under the organ but then we don't see those hanging lamps. 😁
The seats also amazed me. They were covered with leather making them comfortable for visitors and believers to attend the mass or to sit there in silence and pray.
I hope that it was worth passing under the gargoyles for you too and that you enjoyed the little tour of the interior of this church.
If you don't want to enter, it is also worth observing the exterior of this co-cathedral in Osijek with its saints and gargoyles.
