Sveta Jelena (; ) is a historic medieval site in

Međimurje County Međimurje County (; ; ) is a triangle-shaped Counties of Croatia, county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje (region), Međimurje. It is the smallest Croatian count ...

, northern

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Originally a distinct settlement, Sveta Jelena is part of the

Šenkovec Šenkovec () is a municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia, located just outside the county seat, Čakovec. The municipality includes two villages – Šenkovec and Knezovec. In the 2011 census, the two villages were populated by a total of 2 ...

municipality, about two kilometres away from

Čakovec Čakovec (; ; ; ) is a city in Northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and close to the borders with Slovenia and Hungary. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmo ...

to the north. The site is well known for its Pauline monastery of St. Helen and associated facilities. Members of the Zrinski noble family were buried in a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

there. From the whole monastery complex, only the St. Helen's Chapel still exists. The monastery itself was founded by Stephen II Lackfi, Lord of Međimurje and

Ban of Croatia Ban of Croatia () was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Ban (title), bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) and sup ...

, on 27 August 1376 and dedicated to

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and All Saints. After

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

and the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

abolished the Paulists' provinces in his Empire on 7 February 1786, the members of the Order left Sveta Jelena. Over time, the monastery complex had to be rebuilt several times after being damaged by disasters such as fires and earthquakes. In particular, a large earthquake in 1880 nearly destroyed the building. Partial archaeological excavations have been carried out recently by the local Međimurje County Museum in Čakovec.

Burials at the monastery

Nikola Šubić Zrinski Nikola IV Zrinski or Miklós IV Zrínyi (, ; 1507/1508 – 7 September 1566), also commonly known as Nikola Šubić Zrinski (), was a Croatian- Hungarian nobleman and general, Ban of Croatia from 1542 until 1556, royal master of the treasury ...

* Juraj V Zrinski

Image gallery

File:Sveta Jelena (Croatia) - Pavlinski samostan.JPG, Pauline monastery in the 18th century File:Sveta Jelena (Croatia), kapela - jug.jpg, Chapel: south view File:Sveta Jelena (Croatia) - ostaci samostana i kapela.jpg, The remains of the monastery and the chapel File:Sveta Jelena (Croatia), kapela - ulaz.jpg, Entrance File:Sveta Jelena (Croatia), kapela - južni zid.jpg, South wall File:Sveta Jelena (Croatia), kapela - freske.jpg, Frescos

External links

History, archaeological excavations and paintings of St. Helen's Chapel

A photo of the Chapel

History and photos of the Sveta Jelena site

Pauline monastery

Međimurje County tourism page
{{coord, 45, 54, N, 16, 16, E, display=title, region:HR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Buildings and structures in Međimurje County Tourist attractions in Međimurje County Archaeological sites in Croatia Medieval sites in Croatia Zrinski family Former populated places in Croatia History of Međimurje