Located on an elevated plateau outside the city walls, just across from the city gate, the Church of St. Bartholomew makes one of Mošćenica's most famous sights. Devoted to St. Bartholomew, a patron of peasants, shepherds and craftsmen, the church also speaks of the centuries-old preoccupations of the local people whose survival primarily depended on the land and livestock. It was mentioned for the first time in 1627, but it is assumed to be of an older origin. It is a single nave church with an inscribed sanctuary that preserves the altarpiece from 1865 with a display of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Bartholomew as a martyr, whose skin hangs over his arm. In front of the church there is a porch, portico or exterior porch, with its length almost reaching the church's length emphasizing its importance. Every year on the feast day of Kandalora (2nd February), people of Mošćenička would choose their representatives on the porch - county prefects, judges and other elderly (aldermen). They voted secretly, with the help of balls or ballots, so it was said that 'under the porch balloting was done.' It was at this place where the aldermen were deciding about more important communal issues, while the judges were passing justice every Monday. Not surprisingly that there was a courtroom desk sitting on the porch, which was with tme moved to the town lodge - the guardhouse (Stražnica). In 1782, behind the Church of St. Bartholomew, a new graveyard (cimiter) was built. It extends to 4 terraces built by the parishioners themselves, who carried the dirt in baskets and wooden bowls, and built the retaining walls. With the cemetery built, the Church of St. Bartholomew had become a grave chapel.

Type of Data Point - Publicly Available Information

Church of St. Bartholomew - Mošćenice - Public Info

Visit page of the element - Church of St. Bartholomew - Mošćenice

Inserted: 06-02-2023 07:02:30