St. Mark's Church (Vrba)
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St. Mark's Church () is a small church on the outskirts of the village of
Vrba Vrba ("willow" in several Slavic languages) may refer to: Places Austria * Velden am Wörther See ( sl, Vrba na Koroškem, link=no) Bosnia and Herzegovina * Vrba (Glamoč), Bosnia and Herzegovina * Vrba (Gacko), Bosnia and Herzegovina Mon ...
in Upper Carniola in Slovenia. Though it is a small and simple church, it has achieved near-mythical status in Slovenia, after it was mentioned in the
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
O Vrba "O Vrba" is a sonnet written in 1832 and later corrected by the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren, who is considered the national poet of Slovenia. It was published in 1834 in the fourth volume of the almanac ''Krajnska čbelica'' (Carniol ...
by Slovene national poet France Prešeren. Though it is only mentioned in the last verse of this single sonnet, it has come to symbolize 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. In January 2011, it was proclaimed
cultural monument of national importance Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...
by the
Government of Slovenia The Government of the Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Vlada Republike Slovenije) exercises executive authority in Slovenia pursuant to the Constitution and the laws of Slovenia. It is also the highest administrative authority in Slovenia. The governmen ...
.


History

The church is dedicated to
St Mark Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Accor ...
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 Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es, though they are rather fragmented. Some wall paintings are preserved on the exterior of the church. An image of
St Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively u ...
and one of the Crucifixion date to the early 15th century and are in the style of the Gorizia school.
St George and the Dragon In a legend, Saint Georgea soldier venerated in Christianitydefeats a dragon. The story goes that the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers. When they ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving up a human tr ...
, dating to the 16th century, are by the painter
Jernej of Loka Jernej of Loka (Bartholomew) was a 16th-century Painting, painter active in the Škofja Loka area, from which his epithet is also derived. He is known to have painted the frescoes in a number of other churches throughout the Upper Carniola region a ...
who also painted the church of St John the Baptist at Lake Bohinj. Both painters also painted parts of the interior. The Gorizia master is the author of the image of Christ, the Twelve 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 an
Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...
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. 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 by Tone Bitenc, pupil of Jože 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 In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Anton Vovk The Archbishop Anton Vovk (19 May 1900 – 7 July 1963) was born in the village of Vrba, Slovenia, Vrba in Upper Carniola in the Prešeren House, same house where the poet France Prešeren had been born 100 years earlier (Vovk was Prešeren' ...
(1900–1963),Anton Vovk at Catholic Hierarchy site
/ref> great grand nephew of Prešeren, born in the same house in Vrba.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mark, Vrba Roman Catholic churches in Slovenia Monuments and memorials in Slovenia Municipality of Žirovnica France Prešeren Gothic architecture in Slovenia Romanesque architecture in Slovenia