The most beautiful chapel of the Lepoglava area

The most beautiful chapel of the Lepoglava area

 

Among others built by the Paulines around Lepoglava, the Chapel of St. George in Purga stands out with its proportion and beauty. This is one of the most beautiful monuments of Baroque art in Croatia.

It is the oldest of 5 chapels of the Lepoglava monastery- it was given to the Paulines by Count Herman of Celje in 1400 with the surrounding land. Because of the bad condition it was in, the Paulines decided to tear it down and build a new one. The construction started in 1749 and it finished in October 1750.

„Since it was built, furnished and painted at once, it is completely unique in its style“, wrote Gjuro Szabo, an art historian who described the chapel „with a lot of soul and understanding“ in detail in 1919. The chapel was decorated with frescoes by Ivan Ranger. Szabo wrote that „Ranger's paintings show the last echo of the Pauline art and reveal how the Paulines boldly followed the spirit of time, not caring about the postulates of the uptight tradition.“
St. John's Chapel was built on the Gorica hill, at the place of the old fort. It was probably consecrated in 1614.

The remaining three chapels of the Paulines were built on the Veternica hill. They were built on the estate given to the Paulines in 1507 by Lady Beatrice. The only preserved chapel of the three is the Chapel of Holy Mother of God and All Saints, called „Svetinje“ by the people. The other two chapels were knocked down probably before the abolition of the Paulines in 1786.

The Paulines loved to spend time on their Veternica estate, especially in the time of different epidemics, because the air there was „very healthy“.

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