Church in Biljana

In the centre of this village, there is a church dedicated to St. Michael. The paintings done by the artist Clemente Del Neri around 1900 are almost hidden behind the gothic ribbed arch of the presbytery, dating from 1534. There are several wooden statues standing on the capital, among which the most important is The Resurrection of Christ from the first half of the 16 th century. The statue was done by craftsmen from South Tyrol.

When the church was being remodelled in 1999, frescoes were found under the plaster – interestingly, the style of the frescoes was similar to the mentioned statue of the Resurrection. The frescoes behind the side altar prove that the original church used to be of the same size, which is, at the same time, a few times bigger than the rest of the churches that were built in this region during the Gothic period. The reason was probably the special status given to the church in Biljana.

Today the church is surrounded by mostly deserted houses, which are believed to have belonged to vicars who once lived here although they administered the major part of the Brda villages at the same time. The bell tower, resembling the towers from Acquilea, was rebuilt at the end of the 19th century by the stonemason from Kozana, Valentin Vuga.

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