Sunday, April 29, 2007

St. Euphemia's, Rovinj.


Rovinj was declared a cultural monument in 1663. The town walls and gates: By the seventh century AD, Rovinj was already surrounded by town walls, and later strengthened by the construction of towers. The old town had seven gates, while three still exist today: the Saint Benedict Gate, the Portico and the Holy Cross Gate. A baroque archway called "Balbijev luk", which today serves as the entrance into the old town, was built on the site of the former outer gate in the seventeenth century.

The church of Saint Euphemia - is a most imposing structure which bears the name of the patron saint of the town. It dominates the whole old town centre. It was built in the eighteenth centry, while its facade in Venetian-baroque style was added in the middle of the last century. At the top of the sixty-metre-high bell tower stads the copper statue of St. Euphemia, which shows the direction of the wind by turning on a spindle.

One can climb the church tower and on a good day see Venice. We were too unfit to make the attempt.

Saint Euphemia is a Christian saint. She was a martyr at Chalcedon, c.307. Consecrated to virginity, her purity allegedly excited the hatred of pagan persecutors. She was seized, subjected to all manner of torments, and thrown to wild beasts. Churches in her honor have been erected all over the Christian world; the Greeks celebrate her day with special honors. Euphemia is a common baptismal name in Protestant Scotland according to Wikipedia.

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