Byzantine revival as national style in Croatian architecture 1910–1945

While the Neo-Byzantine style was in 19th - century architecture in Croatia exclusively used for architectural projects funded by the Serbian Orthodox Church (such as parochial churches in Zagreb, Dubrovnik and many other towns and places), in the period shortly before the First World War, it also started to be used in the architecture of the Catholic Church. The crucial role in spreading the use of the style was played by the pioneer of Croatian modernist architecture Viktor Kovačić and his design for St Blasius' Church in Zagreb (built in 1910- 13). Neo-Byzantine appeared primary due to ideological and political reasons, because it served as a reference to the period of Croatian political independence. Along with political reasons, the Neo-Byzantine style emerged also as a response to the extreme ornamentalism of the Vienna Secession. Early medieval architecture in Croatia, or more precisely Dalmatia, and Byzantine architecture in general, featured elements whose simplicity matched the sensibilities of increasingly permeating modernism. During the 1920s the Neo- Byzantine style became dominant in church architecture, primarily owing to architect Stjepan Podhorsky who applied the style in his numerous church building designs. The popularity of the style flourished especially in relation to the millennial celebration of the Croatian kingdom (925 – 1925), connected to which a large Neo-Byzantine church was built in Duvno (present Tomislavgrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina) sponsored by the Yugoslav Karađorđević dynasty. The Neo-Byzantine style at the same time turned into the main national style of Serbs in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. However, it appropriated motifs mostly from late medieval Serbian church architecture, which was characterized by much more lavish decoration than early medieval architecture in Croatia. The last Neo-Byzantine churches were built during the 1930s and in the early 1940s. Since modernism began pervading Croatian architecture, the majority of architects turned to designing modernist or some sort of mixed Neo-Romanesque, Art-déco and modernist church buildings.