Kloštar above the Lim Bay, Church of St. Michael

The monumental medieval Benedictine complex is located above the Lim Bay, in the village of Kloštar. The earliest phase of its development is evidenced by two sacral buildings: the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Church of St. Michael. The smaller, northern Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a single-nave structure with a prominent apse. On the interior, the apse is semi-circular, while externally it ends in a three-sided form, and the lateral walls are articulated with pilaster strips (lesenes). Its construction is dated to the early Byzantine period, with subsequent reconstructions during the Middle Ages, and it is associated with the earliest presence of the Benedictine community in this area. The larger, southern Church of St. Michael is also a single-nave building, ending in a prominent semi-circular apse. It is dated to the early Romanesque period, and its construction is linked to the activities of the reformed Benedictines of the Camaldolese branch. The consecration of the church is attributed to the Bishop of Poreč, Engilmar, who was appointed head of the diocese in 1028, while preserved records place the construction and consecration in the period between 1040 and 1041.

Both churches were originally painted, but the mid-11^th-century frescoes have been preserved only in the sanctuary and partially in the nave of the Church of St. Michael. Three scenes from the life of St. Stephen are depicted on the apse wall. The background is designed as a schematized landscape divided into three horizontal registers, representing the ground, the sky, and the heavenly realm. In the area of the sanctuary’s triumphal arch, the painting on the southern side is fragmentarily preserved, showing richly ornamented borders and part of the garment of a figure. Two saints were originally depicted on the lower parts of the arch, of whom only the one on the southern side is preserved today. The iconography of the depicted saint can be associated with St. Maurus, the martyr, the first bishop and patron of the Diocese of Poreč.

The artistic language and execution of these frescoes indicate their integration into the artistic trends developed during the Ottonian and early post-Ottonian periods. Comparisons can be drawn with monumental painting of the same chronological framework in Central Europe and northern Italy, as well as with the tradition of illumination, particularly within South German scriptoria.

The earliest written mention of the frescoes was provided by Francesco Polesini in 1849, in the article Abbazia di S. Michele di Lemo, published in the journal L’Istria. A more systematic analysis and scientific interpretation of the wall paintings were presented in the mid-20^th century by Branko Fučić and Ana Deanović. Conservation and restoration work was carried out by the Croatian Restoration Institute during the 1970s. The most recent restoration, conducted in 2015 and 2016, was carried out by the company Ars Restauro d.o.o., under the expert supervision of the Conservation Department of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia in Pula.

Iconographic program:

Eastern wall: 1–2 Scenes from the life of Saint Stephen: The Accusation, The Expulsion from the City (?), The Stoning, 3 Remains of wall paintings, 4 Saint.