Abstract (english) | The reign of Charlemagne in Europe (771-814) left a great mark on many areas of human cultural development in the form of numerous reforms, hence the entire period is known as the Carolingian Renaissance. There have been many innovations that were introduced in the church architecture especially, one of them being the westwork – monumental, west-facing entrance section of a church usually consisting of two stories flanked by one or two towers. The westwork was often used as a gallery from which a person of great importance could attend the mass, or as a chapel for the cult of saints. The examples from western Europe that were discussed in this paper are: the church of Saint-Denis near Paris, the church of Saint Nazarius at Lorsch, the church of Saint-Riquier near Abbeville, the Palatine Chapel at Aachen, the cathedral of Reims, the cathedral of Halberstadt, the church of Saint-Germain at Auxerre, the church at the monastery of Saint Gall in Switzerland, the abbey church at Corvey. The reign of the Franks in Croatia at the beginning of the 9th century left an important mark on church architecture. Hence, possible traces of westwork can be found on some of the pre-Romanesque churches in Dalmatia. The Church of the Saviour at the source of the Cetina river has been preserved almost in its original shape (both with westwork and a tower on its west facade). Hence, it is of great value for finding the same structural element on other churches. Using the method of comparative analysis, scholars were able to detect possible traces of westwork on the following examples: the Church of Saint Lovro in Zadar, the Church of Saint Martha in Bijaći, the church of Saint Mary at Crkvina in Biskupija, the Church at Lopuška Glavica in Biskupija, the Church of Saint Cecilia in Biskupija, the Church of Saint Stjepan at Otok in Solin, the Church at Ţaţvić near Bribirska Glavica, the Church of Saint Martin at Lepuri near Benkovac, the Biograd Cathedral, the Church at Ošlje. |