- St Mark's Church (Vrba)
St Mark's Church is a small church on the outskirts of the village of Vrba in
Upper Carniola inSlovenia . Though it is a small and simple church, it has achieved near mythical status in Slovenia, after it was mentioned in thesonnet O Vrba by Slovene national poetFrance Prešeren . Though it is only mentioned in the last verse of this single sonnet, it has come to symbolise homeliness and safety to which one can turn when bitterness and disappointment over having followed one's destiny to foreign lands becomes too much to bear [ [http://colecizj.easyvserver.com/popreurb.htm Brindin Press poetry in translation site for a translation of the sonnet in English] ] .History
The church is dedicated to St Mark and is a plain looking building with a wooden roof and a variety of features from various periods. The Romanesque foundations of an
apse displayed inside the church, under the floor of the present apse, show that there was a smaller church on this site before the 14th century. The first major rebuilding seems to have been undertaken in the 16th century when the choir was rebuilt with decorative, rather than structural ribbed vaulting. As indicated by the date 1627 on the rear portal, the steeple and the entry porch were rebuilt. The belltower would at the time have had an onion dome wooden roof—the current pyramidal roof is from the 19th century.Features
An important feature of the church are its
fresco es, though they are rather fragmented. Some wall paintings are preserved on the exterior of the church. An image of St Christopher and one of theCrucifixion date to the early 15th century and are in the style of theGorizia school. St George and the Dragon, dating to the 16th century, are by the the painterJernej of Loka who also painted the church ofSt John the Baptist atLake Bohinj [ [http://www.slovenia.info/?sakralne_znamenitosti=6738 Church of St John the Baptist at Lake Boohinj on the Slovene Tourist Association site (in English)] ] . Both painters also painted parts of the interior. The Gorizia master is the author of the image ofChrist , theTwelve Apostles and the symbols of the Evangelists. On the right side of the dividing arch a different contemporary painter depicted St Mark kneeling and a skinned St Bartholomew holding his skin in his hand and smiling. Above the arch an image of an angel from anAnnunciation scene is preserved and is the work of Bartholomew of Loka who also decorated the western wall with scenes from the Passion of Christ, a few of which are preserved [ [http://www.zirovnica.si/podrocje.aspx?id=249 Žirovnica municipality site] ] .The church furnishings are more recent. Two gold plated side altars are from the early 17th century with slightly crude 17th century sculpture and 19th century paintings of the
Pietà and of St Bartholomew. The main altar dates to the 18th century. The marble altar table was designed byTone Bitenc , pupil ofJože Plečnik and combines Baroque elements with a Plečnik style modernism.On the basis of fragments of a painted wooden ceiling dating from around 1500–1515, a new reconstructed ceiling was built in 1990. In the porch is a bust of the
archbishop Anton Vovk (1900–1963) [ [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bvovk.html Anton Vovk at Catholic Hierarchy site] ] , great grand nephew of Prešeren, born in the same house in Vrba.The mixture of styles and periods in this tiny church is an artistic witness to the pride of local inhabitants in the small village.
References
Sources
Ivan Sedej: "Sto najlepših cerkva na Slovenskem", Prešernova Družba, Ljubljana, 1996, ISBN 961-6186-20-5 sl icon
External links
* [http://www.zirovnica.eu/a_kultura/k_potkultdediscine.html Žirovnica Tourist Association site (in Slovene)]
See also
*
Vrba, Slovenia
*France Prešeren
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