St. Peter and Paul’s Church

The parish priest Peter Golob wrote about St. Peter and Paul’s Church:

The current church was built in 1872 and 1873. The older people still remember well what their parents, who built the church through voluntary work, told them. First, they had to remove the top of the hill where the old church stood. In doing so, they have also removed the old cemetery which was located around the old church and in use until 1840.

Dimensions of the church: length – 34 m, width – 24 m, high: at the dome, supported by 4 pillars – 20 m, at chancel – 13,5 metres, at side altars – 15 m. The chancel itself is 7.5 m long and 8.80 m wide.

The church has three altars – the main altar is dedicated to St. Peter and Paul, consists of marble and is, together with the stairs, around 10 m high. The two side altars have brick tables and are otherwise wooden. The left one is dedicated to the Madonna of the Rosary and has an inscription that it was built at the request of Janez and Petrina Izgoršek from Zagorje. The right altar is dedicated to the miner’s patron St. Barbara and has a date 20th July, 1884. (In 1966/67, when the church’s interior was rearranged, the side altars were removed. The pictures from both altars were placed on the front walls of the aisles.)

The picture of St. Peter and Paul in the main altar is 3.20 m high and 1.65 m wide. The work of France Wolf. The main altar has two more pictures related to allegories of St. Peter and Paul: Picture of the Heart of Jesus which was created in 1953 by professor Molé from Novo mesto as his first major work. And the picture of Our Lady of Fátima was created in 1954 by professor Šubic from Ljubljana.

The main altar further includes two 1.75 m high statues of Slavic apostles Saints Cyril and Methodius as well as two 95 cm high statues of Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus above. There are 2 kneeling angels by the tabernacle. The statues are made from plaster.

The inscription at the main altar says: “Parochiante R.D. Jacobo Gross anno 1880 hoc altare erectum et pictura haec 1881 picta est.” There is also an old (engraved) but illegible inscription on the wall behind the altar.

The fresco above the main altar is from 1886 and was created by France Wolf – it represents Christ and four Evangelists.

It is 7.5 m wide and a bit more than 3 m high. The back wall by the sides of the main altar features only ornaments.

The main altar was dedicated at the same time as the church – on 25th October, 1874. Bishop Jernej Vidmar. Side altars were blessed later by provost dr. Lenart Klofutar.

Placing altars and decorating the church was overseen by the parish priest Jakob Gros. Gros's personal institution was Eternal Light (večna luč – 2000 crowns). During Gros’s time, the church received a choir, an organ and a monstrance. The same parish priest also oversaw the Catholic Lodge in 1895. Mason Jakob Vodopivec from Vrhnika. Today, this building is a home in a very bad condition – it is owned and managed by the parish church named “Ajmohthaus” (later nationalized and torn down).

The organ was created by France Goršič (last new organ) and has written: Op. LXII. V Ljub. 1895. There are 25 singing registers.

There are two bell towers. There is a punctual clock in both of them. It has written: N.342. Ivan M. Pogačnik. Podnart, Kropa, Gorenjsko.

The first phase of connecting the church to the electricity grid was done in 1923. After 1950, the church received a thorough renovation of all the wiring as well as new lights (in the shape of a cross), according to the plans of Jože Plečnik – they were placed into 12 locations instead of the crosses from the church's dedication.

For more info, go to: http://zupnija-zagorje-ob-savi.rkc.si/index.php/content/display/43/20/20

Source: http://zupnija-zagorje-ob-savi.rkc.si/