Afirmatio-elevatio-æmulatio: The Bell Tower of the Split Cathedral

The medieval buildings strive to establish a dialogue with the past in the most direct way, by re-using older fragments as historical evidence and palpable links with the past or echoing the structural and ornamental forms of ancient edifices. One such example is the bell tower of the Split Cathedral. The intention of this paper is to discuss the problem of its structural and artistic form. This primarily refers to a more thorough consideration of all the peculiarities of the architectural composition and very specific spatial configuration and structural problems, which the bell tower faced from the start of its construction. And then artistic features that gradually, in some not always peaceful dialogue, developed, adapted, and thoughtfully elaborated from floor to floor.