Cathedral of the Assumption

Senj cathedral was built in 1169 as a single-nave Romanesque basilica on the site of a pagan shrine to Magna Mater and an early Christian building from the 4th to 5th century, whose remains lie about 1.5 m below ground behind the sanctuary.

A sacristy was added in the 15th century and two side aisles plus most altars in the mid-18th century. Badly damaged in World War II, the church gained its present look during the 1949 to 1950 restoration.

Highlights are the Gothic wall tomb of Bishop Ivan Cardinalibus (d. 1392) and a Holy Trinity relief bearing the chequered arms of the Perović family dated 1491, the oldest known version of the Croatian coat of arms. Crypts of Senj citizens lie beneath the right aisle.

• Sights