Church of st Bernardine
Church, Portorož
The Church of St. Bernardine was originally part of a Franciscan monastery, built in 1452 by St. John of Capistrano, a disciple of the great preacher St. Bernardine of Siena. Designed like North Italian Observant monasteries, it was built outside Piran’s walls in a strategic, peaceful location. A chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Grace was added around 1490. The monastery was dissolved in 1806, and the buildings were later converted into a military fort, with much of the art and treasures lost.
Today, the Gothic rib-vaulted presbytery, Baroque bell tower, and foundations of the nave remain and are integrated into the Bernardin hotel complex since 1976. The Venetian-style bell tower has a single bell, and the preserved presbytery features refined stone details, including carved capitals with floral, zoomorphic, and human motifs – a rare gem of Venetian ecclesiastical architecture in Istria.
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