The Church of Our Lady of the Snows
Church, Piran
First mentioned in 1404, the church—funded by Lady Hengaldrude de Vanto—retains its Gothic structure in the rib-vaulted nave and pointed triumphal arch wall, while the presbytery and dome were added during the Baroque period. The main altar, created in 1669 by Antonio Trevisan based on Bonfante Zorzi’s design, features Our Lady of the Snows by Ambrogio Bon (1705).
The interior includes 19th-century illusionist ceiling art, gilded wooden frames by Battista Marangona with biblical scenes, and works by Tommaso Gregolin and others. In a 1969 restoration, two precious tempera-on-wood paintings were uncovered beneath Baroque artwork: a Crucifixion in the pointed Gothic arch (1450–1460, attributed to Nicola di Antonio da Pirano) and an Annunciation on the triumphal arch (Venetian painter, c. 1430). These are a unique example of preserved Gothic panel painting in Slovenian Istria.
Access to the church is restricted.
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