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The Church of St. Helen, Podpeč
The image of a saint can be seen in the Church of St. Helen. Such an image was rarely depicted in the church art during the Middle Ages.
Address:
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How to get there:
On the old Koper - Črni kal road, several kilometres before Črni kal, in Krnica, turn for Predloka, and then Brezovica and Podpeč. Take a car from Koper along the county road to Bertok. Take a left exit on the first roundabout, and right on the second. Co
Note:
The Church key is kept in houses number 8 and 26.
The core of St. Helen's Church in Podpeč is medieval, although its presbyterium was built in 1640, and its nave added Baroque features. The preserved remains of the frescoes were taken off the walls due to the construction of the railroad in 1966 and kept in the Koper and Ljubljana museums. Both fragments have recently been put back on its original place. St. Helena exhibits the work from the workshop of John of Kastav, whose works have also been found in the churches in Hrastovlje and Božje polje. Preserved fragments bear witness to the upper belt on the northern wall being dedicated to the Christological iconography. The upper part of the south wall carried a cycle of images from the legend of St. Helen, the church protector, which is a rare case. Unusual fragments of Crucifixion and the Adoration of the Magi have also been preserved from the Christ cycle. The year 1489 inscribed in the bordure between both scenes, has faded. In the niches beneath these scenes are depictions of female saints of characteristic traits whose identical images we will find in Hrastovlje and Božje polje. Since the graphic sheets of German and Dutch masters of the time served as patterns and were the inventory of each Late Gothic painting bottega, it is not unusual that the paintings of Podpec were also created following these models.
