Čirkoti, Church of St Primus and St Felician

The cemetery church in Čirkoti is dedicated to St Primus and St Felician, martyrs who suffered during the persecutions of Diocletian. It was erected in the early thirteenth century as a single-nave sacred structure with an inscribed apse. The façade is articulated by a bell-cote, while the south wall is pierced by two window openings.

Three distinct layers of wall paintings can be identified in the interior of the church. The youngest layer is located in the conch of the apse and depicts Christ in a mandorla surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists. In the lower zone of the apsidal wall, within painted arcades, figures of the apostles are arranged. Based on stylistic and formal characteristics, this layer is dated to around 1400 and has been associated with the workshop active at St Helena near Oprtalj. On the lateral walls, an earlier painted layer dating to the thirteenth century is preserved. Scenes from the Christological cycle are organised into two registers, separated by a bichrome painted border. Beneath these wall paintings, a layer of plaster bearing traces of pigment indicates the existence of an even earlier phase of painted decoration.

The youngest layer of wall paintings was uncovered by Branko Fučić in 1947, and he published his analysis in 1964 in his doctoral dissertation Srednjovjekovno zidno slikarstvo u Istri. Following their conservation in 2008, the earlier layer of frescoes was discussed by Željko Bistrović in the publication Šareni trag istarskih fresaka.

Iconographic programme:

East wall: 1. Christ in a mandorla with the symbols of the Evangelists; 2. The Twelve Apostles.
North wall: 3. Kiss of Judas; 4. Agony on the Mount of Olives; 5. Christ before Pilate. South wall: 6. Christ Carrying the Cross.