Made by Slovenian LOOR team

Made by Slovenian LOOR team

Map of Kranj Legend: 1 The parish church St. Kancijan 2 The Rosary Church 3 The Pungart Church 4 The Church in Zlato polje St. Modest 5 The church in Rupa 6 The church in Kokrica

The parish church St. Kancijan Our ancestors gave us the late-gothic jewel in which God dwells and our common perception is strengthened. On the today's church site there was its predecessor form the 6th century BC. The archaeological excavation inside the church in 1984 and north of it in 1972 showed that there was a complex consisting of the church building with side places, adjacent octagonal baptistery and a connecting corridor between them. The original church was about 12 metres wide and 19 23 metres long. The length included the entry part as well (narthex). The original church had already existed in the 7th century, and its decay is probably due to the Hungarian attacks in the 10th century. There is little known about its Roman predecessor than we do know about the late-antic building. At the beginning of the 15th century according to the architectural tendencies the new 'townsman long' choir was built. Its building is connected with the work of the vicar of that period, Koloman de Manswerd. The townsmen added a nave to the presbytery in 1440, and it was vaulted between the years 1452 and 1460. It was a novelty in Slovena to design a nave. With its quadratic plan which is extended into a church tower and the same height in the both side naves is regarded as a ideal hall. In the main plan as well as in the star vault you can see the influence of the forth-coming renaissance and democratic meaning of the united space. With uniting of the older presbytery and the new hall place of the nave there emerged a new innovation which has been used several times in Kranjska (Radovljica, Škofja Loka, Cerknica etc). The vaults are decorated with stonecutting ornaments of joints which don't have only the chronological but also cultural meaning. For this purpose there the three kings and the donator are sculptured around Mary. The memory is a kind of a souvenir to medieval pilgrimages to Koln to the relics of the three kings. The stonecutter ornament is the only remnant of once very rich church outfit. Individual joints on the ceiling show the original arrangement of the gothic altars: in front of the triumphal arch there is a joint with Mary and Christ because there was an altar at the entrance to the presbytery. The joints of John the Baptist and St. Stephen in the southern nave and St. Nicholas in the northern nave show the places where the altar dedicated to them once stood. In the eastern part of the northern nave there is Jesus Christ sculpted because the altar under it is dedicated to St. Corpus Christi. The opening in the middle part of the ceiling was used for raising the statue of Christ for the feast of the Assumption. The frescoes of angels-musicians around it are the work of the master from Žirovnica dating around 1460. The remains of the main gothic altar from the beginning of the 16th century the painted altar wings showing escape and death of the parish patrons were sold to Vienna in 1886. Today you can see them in the Belvedere Gallery. In the north chapel you can see their painted reproductions. Today's church interior is the result of the neogothic euphoria in the 19th century and correction of its mistakes in the 1930s. The main altar if the work of Ivan Vurnik, the architect, and France Gorše, the sculptor, dating from 1934, and Helena Vurnik, the painter. There is also another work of Ivan Vurnik of the right side Mary's altar with an older statue. The altar in the side nave is dedicated to st. Barbara and St. Katarina, in the southern side nave to st. Neža and st. Uršula. They were made by the stonecutter Felisk Toman around 1890, the statues and the paintings are the work of Christian Mahlknecht.

The later is also the author of fourteen Stations of the Cross. Re-gothic movement in the 19th century established a newly formed baroque windows and returned them the gothic shape and also added both side windows. In 1892 confessional boxes were made and at the same time 1891-1892, Matija Bradaška painted the whole interior. Only some paintings on the choir were left from those (the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden and St. Florjan putting out the fire in Kranj) and in the northern chapel (the founding of St. Cross). In 1963 the chapel was made into baptistery the painter Stane Kregar who also made some plans for the new stained glass windows, in the northern side nave showing the topic of virginity (above the confessional box) and Eucharist and the heart of Jesus Christ, and in the southern side nave beside the altar, the martyrdom and the sacrament, in the baptistery the baptism of water and blood, in the presbytery creation, new testament, glorification of the cross, St. Eucharist and church year. On the walls there are some paintings by Leopold Layer (the last dinner 1799 and the feast of the Annunciation), by Jožef Egartner (the church patron St. Prot in 1840), by Janez Wolf the three kings and the birth of Christ by unknown author. They were renovated in 2002. The Rosary Church In 1510s a local church was built above the lower town entrance, dedicated to St. Mary Rosary. In the time of Protestantism it was used as a protestant shrine. The whole of the equipment was taken away in this time. In the 17th century it was renovated. The church is the representative of the typical late gothic architecture with rectangle nave and a narrower presbytery. The presbytery and the nave are vaulted in a gothic way. The church was completely renovated in 1892 and thus a lot of its historical attraction was removed. But it is still very important panoramic site of the old town. Macedonic Orthodox Church has its services here. There are also concerts. The Pungart Church The town tower in Pugart is the only completely preserved tower in the town wall. It was used as a prison in various historical times. The church, in which the Orthodox Church has its services, is dedicated to patrons against the plague: St. Fabian, Sebasian and Rok. In the baroque parish building there is the altar paining showing the plague by baroque painter Kremser Schmid. Serbian Orthodox Church has its services here.

The Church in Zlato polje The young parish which was founded on 19th March 1991 used as its religious place the chapel of the school nuns for three years and seven months. The people began building the church on 17th August 1993. The foundation stone was made on 24th November the same year, 12th December is the date of the blessing of the building site. On Saturday evening, 19th November 1994, there was the last Sunday service in the chapel. The next day the rooms under the church were consecrated as well as the temporary parish chapel. All the religious services took place here for two years, except the working masses. The carver Janez Vovk from Polica near Naklo made the portrait of the crucified Christ for the event of the first missionary in the parish. The regular services began on 24th October 1996. The ceiling was finished in the same year, the floor in presbytery and Mary's chapel, decorative garlands and lights in July. By 20th October the floor, the side stone wainscots and the carpet were unfinished. The temporary Stations of the Cross were drawn by thirteen teenagers and a lady under the guidance of Jolanda Pibernik, the teacher of art. For the ninths anniversary the benches were added. A year later the facade and the outer yard were completed. The meaning and symbolism of the cross in the church of St. Modest The suffering of Christ is stressed very much on the altar cross, which can be noticed in the face expression and the position of arms and legs. The suffering Christ lives in front of us with all his inner and outer pain which was sacrificed for our salvation. The cross itself has its symbolism. It is not typically symmetrical. Its vertical side reaches the ceiling towards the sky. It means the salvation united heaven and earth, humanity and God. Because we are saved we can raise our look above all the materialistic world towards God. The horizontal side of the cross is longer on one side, it reaches towards the place where we are. The inscription on it reads INRI (Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews) means the saviour. Its salvation is a gift to all the people. It reaches us, into our space and time. We are entitled to the cross. In the bright brass tablets we can see ourselves from specific positions in the church. We join the Christ's offering which is identical with his offering on the cross. All the points of the brass cross are directed to Christ. He invites us to join our suffering and crosses to his offer. This is our offer for the salvation of the people. The carver Janez Vovk made the cross. A short historical survey of the church in Rupa The Primskovo parish was founded in 1782. People wanted to have a permanent priest there and they were willing to provide him an accommodation. Under this parish were the following villages: Primskovo, Gorenje, Klanec, Rupa and Čirče from Preddvor parish and Huje from Šenčur parish. This wish was not granted. It was set that Primskovo, Gorenje, Klanec and Čirče would join the Kranj parish, and Rupa to Predoslje parish. The people from Rupa didn't agree and they complained. The date of the building of the church in Rupa isn't known, but it was already mentioned in 1488. It isn't known whether there had already been a parish there before. The church belonged to Preddvor parish. Its gothic presbytery shows that the church is very old. The church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalena. The saint is well known to us from the Bible. On the big altar in Rupa church there is her painting made by Layer, on its left the altar of st. Jernej and on its right St. Anton from Padova.

The church had been rebuilt in 1836-1838. Against the will of the Kranj town council, Rupa was allowed to build two new side altars made by Josip Egartner. These altars were renovated in 1892 by Štefan Čadež from Duplje. The cemetery in Rupa is as old as the church. The people from Kokrica, Mlaka, Srakovlje, Ilovka, Tatinec buried their relatives there until 1787. After that year people were buried at Suha Predoslje, and after that at the cemetery in Predoslje. Later Rupa belonged to Kranj parish. Since 1991 it has been part of Zlato polje parish. In years 1992-194 its facade was renovated. Before the Zlato polje church was completed a service every Sunday was held in Rupa. Since then there have been services for special holidays: the feast of Corpus Christi (with procession), on Sunday after St. Magdalena name day, on the all saints day. The church in Kokrica According to the religious documents, Kokrica was mentioned for the first time in the report from 1631, written by the bishop Rinaldo Scarlicchi. In it the church in Kokrica is mentioned as the branch church of the Preddvor vicarage. Because it was a poor church, the bishop ordered the basic equipment to be bought. After the founding of the new parish Predoslje, Kokrica became its branch and consisted of five settlements with 175 houses altogether. In 1868 the present church was built with its tree altars, dedicated to St. Lovrenc, the Virgin Mary and St. Rok. The bill was paid by the local people. After the bell was damaged in 1911, Mr Samass from Ljubljana cast three new bells, which were taken away during the World War I for the need of the army. The baron Zois then landed his bell from his chapel at Brdo. In 1920 the new iron bells rang for the first time. In 1946 a new cemetery was made next to the church and the people from Kokrica could now bury their dead here. In 1961 Jesuit Janez Jauh from Kokrica had his 25th anniversary of his ordination. The church of st. Lovrenc in Kokrica, which is a branch church of Predoslje vicarage, has two altars. The big altar is dedicated o St. Lavrencij, the other one to St. Stephen. There is nothing on the altars but the table cloth and candlelight's. The bishop ordered that all the equipment should be bought, the church should be painted, and the windows should open.