Church of St. Jurij
Known from time immemorial as a pilgrimage center, with a unique glass floor, it offers an excellent view into the history of the region and early Slavic graves. Explore the history of Christianization in Koroška and the significance of churches in the late Middle Ages.
In the autumn of 1993, archaeologists from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Maribor branch, during the replacement of the worn-out floor in the filial Church of St. George in Legen, discovered the ruins of older sacred buildings and graves. The Church of St. George was already known as a church with a Romanesque design from the second half of the 13th century and, as a typical representative of the “Koroška type” of Romanesque churches with a chancel, i.e., eastern tower, it has preserved several architectural construction phases, reconstructions, and restorations.
Among the mentioned archaeological investigations, two older construction phases were discovered – a pre-Romanesque and a Romanesque phase from the first half of the 12th century. From the period between the first half of the 9th century and the first half of the 10th century, the foundations of an early medieval single-nave church with an embedded (hidden) apse were uncovered, which later burned down. Contemporary early Slavic graves, found along the southern and eastern sides of this church (26 graves), based on the accompanying grave goods, belong to the Kettlach cultural group, i.e., the younger culture of the Alpine Slavs. The exact number of graves is not yet final, as the graves extend into a currently unexplored area outside the walls of today’s church.
Among the graves, bronze arm rings with a single thickening, an “S”-shaped hook, and two round bronze decorative brooches were discovered, one of which is especially interesting due to the depiction of a peacock—a symbol of immortality in early Christianity.
In the 8th century, Carantania had to acknowledge Frankish supremacy, which marked the beginning of intense Christianization carried out by various church institutions with the support of different secular rulers. The church organization was based on two major ecclesiastical centers: Salzburg and Aquileia.
The early medieval church uncovered in the Church of St. George is among the oldest such structures in the Aquileian missionary area.
The outstanding presentation of the discovered archaeological remains, featuring a glass and heated walking surface along with an air-conditioned lower chamber, was masterfully designed in 1994 by architect Milan Kovač. Today, the church offers visitors an authentic connection to the past.
Source: Koroški pokrajinski muzej (www.kpm.si/razstave/cerkev-svetega-jurija)