CURCH OF SAINT MARY OF THE ANNUNCITION AND MONASTERY VELESOVO IN ADERGAS
Pilgrimage route to the entire Gorenjska region
North of the village is the valley Graben, where once was a famous Dominican convent Velesovo with a primary pilgrim church, established in 1238 at the church Saint Marjeta, was mentioned already in 1163.
Once a monastery, today a parish church has a rich cultural and historical heritage. In 1238 beside this chapel a Dominican monastery was built. The church received after its renovation between 1732 and 1771 typical elements of Italian architecture with a hall design with lowered walls in form of a chapel, where two altars are placed and with a bright roof. The interior is designed after the Ursuline Church in Ljubljana, the front doubtlessly indicates that the architect searched for paragons in the front of the Ljubljana Town Hall.
This late-baroque building is decorated by seven altar images of the famous Austrian baroque painter Johann Martin Schmidt from Krems. Most famous creation in the church is the Romanesque pilgrimage statue of Maria with Jesus, which has its permanent place on the main altar between tabernacle and throne. It is the oldest preserved Maria’s statue in Slovenia from around 1220. Since the Middle Ages onwards the statue’s clothes are being changed at various religious feast days. It is believed that the statue was given by patriarch Bertold II. at the monastery’s founding. At the choir loft hang four pictures of Maria’s life, which are the work of the most productive baroque painter in Slovenia Jean Valenin Metzger, born in 1699 in St. Avold in Lorena. Below the church are the famous catacombs.
Foto: Janko Dermastja
Nekdanji samostan Velesovo
Prvotni ženski dominikanski samostan so ustanovili oglejski patriarhi leta 1238. Ustanovno listino je tisto leto potrdil oglejski patriarh Bertold II. v bližnji cerkvi sv. Marjete. Kot najvišji cerkveni dostojanstvenik in hkrati zemljiški gospod je predstavljal osrednjo osebnost prve polovice 13. stoletja na Slovenskem.
Ob turškem napadu leta 1471 je bil samostan, ki je bil takrat večinoma lesen, zelo poškodovan. Sedanjo obliko je dobil med letoma 1732 in 1771, ko so ga obnovili po načrtih Candida Zullianija.
Podobo nekdanjega gradu nad samostanom in samostan sam prikazuje Valvasorjev bakrorez.
Avstrijski cesar Jožef II. ga je 1782. razpustil in v njem je bila vojaška bolnišnica, pozneje pa sedež gosposke. Od samostanskih objektov je ohranjen vzhodni del, kjer so stanovanja, šola in župnišče.
Katakombe pod cerkvijo so bile namenjene za pokop nun, ki so živele v samostanu. Na gričku nad vasjo pa so še danes vidne razvaline nekdanjega gradu Kamen, ki je bil uničen ob turškem vpadu leta 1471.
Ime vasi, v katerem je stal samostan, naj bi izviral iz nem. An der Gras ('na trati'), blizu je bila namreč vas Trata s podružnično cerkvijo sv. Marjete, ki je že leta 1136 pridobila pravice župnijske cerkve. Upravljanje in delovanje samostana so prevzele nune, ki so prihajale iz plemiških družin iz okolice Dunaja. Poleg bogate kulturne dediščine so s seboj prinesle tudi bogastvo, s katerim so lahko kupovale posestva.
O samostanu govori že davno pozabljena pesem: »Stoji, stoji pod goro en klošterček Velesovo«.
Foto: Janez Ribnikar
Ogled je možen vsak dan, večje skupine pa se vnaprej dogovorite pri gospodu župniku Slavku Kalanu na telefonski številki 041 755 404 ali na slavko.kalan@rkc.si.
The chursh is accessible to the disabled, as there is a ramp next to the stairs.
Več si lahko preberete na spletni strani Župnije Velesovo.
