St. John’s Church

The Church of St John the Baptist (Sv. Ivan) is the main Catholic church of Budva’s Old Town, crowned by a landmark bell tower. The ensemble on the central square comprises the church proper, a free-standing campanile and the former bishop’s palace.

• Tradition dates the first rotunda here to the 7th century, while scholarship places the earliest phase around c. 1200 – later expanded repeatedly.
• The present form took shape by the late 17th century after the 1667 earthquake – a single-nave basilica with side chapels, choir and sacristy.
• The c. 36 m northern bell tower was added in the 19th century, designed by architect Lucchini – Budva’s signature vertical.
• Until 1828 it served as the cathedral of the Budva diocese, with the bishop’s residence attached.
• The chief relic is the icon “Budvanska Gospa / Madona in Punta” (12th–14th c.) on the north altar, venerated as the city’s protectress.

• A single-nave interior with side chapels and surviving 14th-century fresco fragments.
• The 19th-century northern campanile and the ensemble with the bishop’s palace to the south.
• The “Budvanska Gospa” icon and a glass mosaic of St John by Ivo Dulčić in the presbytery.

According to tradition a rotunda church stood here in the 7th century; under the Benedictines in the 9th century Budva became a Christian centre and the shrine assumed a civic role. Around 1200 a single-nave structure arose, enlarged through the 12th–15th centuries.

The 1667 earthquake prompted a major rebuild completed by the late 17th century. In the 19th century the tall northern bell tower by Lucchini was added; in 1807 the famed icon from Santa Maria in Punta was transferred here. Until 1828 this was the cathedral church of Budva.

Location: Budva Old Town, central church square, near the Citadel.
Getting there: on foot from the town gates; nearest parking by the marina and outside the walls.
Access: active Catholic church; entry generally free, donations welcome.
Visiting hours: daytime year-round; services may limit access.
Visit duration: 20–40 minutes.
Best time: morning or golden hour for softer light and fewer crowds.
Notes: modest dress and quiet; no flash photography; do not touch icons or artefacts.