Chiesetta di San Quirino

The little church of San Quirino, the oldest in the parish, stands on the site of a protohistoric necropolis reused in Roman times. The church was founded in 1250.

The apse of this building was renovated in 1494, as indicated by a plaque on the outer wall that gives the name of its builder and the date of construction in Gothic characters: “Anno Domi(-ni) 1494 Ma(giste)r Mart(inus) Patr(-ichic).” The surname is the Latinized form of the Slavic “Pirich.”

The porch, with a pavilion roof, is enclosed on the left and halfway along the front. A twin-lancet belfry sits on the ridge of the roof. The main pointed-arch doorway is flanked by two rectangular windows. The interior hall is rectangular with exposed wooden beams. The pointed triumphal arch leads into the presbytery, whose ceiling features a “florid Gothic” ribbed network; at the intersections stand depictions of the sun, the Madonna and Child, St. John the Evangelist, St. Quirino in pontifical vestments, as well as decorative elements such as rosettes and two shields bearing the coat of arms of Cividale or of the Gastaldia. Stone colonnettes support the figurative capitals. The marble altar houses a canvas depicting Saints Quirino, Sebastian, and Roch, the work of the Cividale painter Luigi Bront (20th century).

Outside the building, in the patriarchal and Venetian eras, under the lime trees that once shaded the little church, representatives of the Banks of Antro and Merso gathered to elect the Arengo grande della Slavia, a kind of parliament with broad powers not only in civil administration but also in the administration of justice.

For information about opening times, please contact the Pro Loco Nediške Doline – Valli del Natisone APS office.