Containment, "Marmar," and "Margarita": Bringing the Sea into the Basilica Eufrasiana in Poreč, Istria

Authors

• Emilia R. Cottignoli, Stanford UniversityFollow

Abstract

Just a few paces from the Adriatic sea, in the Istrian town of Poreč, lies the sacred oceanic cosmos of the Basilica Eufrasiana. This interdisciplinary study reinscribes the basilica with the aesthetics of water and develops an ecorelational methodology for reading architecture in relation to its environmental context. Massive margarita, mother-of-pearl, adorn the main apse of the Eufrasiana alongside gently undulating mosaic waves and organic forms that recall the plump, levitating, luminous bodies of jellyfish. Corinthian columns of Proconnesian marble, imported from the Sea of Marmara, line the central nave and side aisles, their striations blue-gray and white, their material flux evoking the ripples of waves and the movement of water, divining liquid wetness from impenetrable stone. From within the basilica can be heard the gentle lapping of waves against the complex wall, the murmuring of the tides as they roll in and out. The basilica becomes a containing seashell that stimulates acoustic reverberance, like a seashell that captures the sounds of the ocean when pressed to the ear. This highlights the slippage between marmar, to murmur, like marble, and to glitter, and margar, the containing pearl in the mollusk, Christ in the containing shell of the Virgin. I argue that the oceanic elements within the basilica invite in the adjacent sea, enabling this multisensory experience where the elements of the internal evoke the external, and the two are reunited in one sacred space.

Recommended Citation

Cottignoli, Emilia R. (2026) "Containment, "Marmar," and "Margarita": Bringing the Sea into the Basilica Eufrasiana in Poreč, Istria," Medieval Ecocriticisms: Vol. 6, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/med_ecocriticisms/vol6/iss1/3