Gologorica, Chapel of St Mary “at the Pond”

The chapel of St Mary “at the Pond” is situated on a hill in the immediate vicinity of the settlement of Gologorica. It is a single-nave structure of rectangular ground plan, terminated by a flat east wall. The façade is articulated by an entrance portal flanked symmetrically by two smaller windows, while a bell-gable rises in the upper zone. In the Baroque period, a porch (lopica) was added to the façade wall. In addition to the construction of the porch, the original inscribed apse was removed during the Baroque remodelling of the church and replaced by a wooden Baroque altar dating from the mid-seventeenth century.

On the northern wall of the church, a Gothic mural depicting the Adoration of the Magi has been preserved. The painted field is framed by a broad border with medallions filled with ornamental, stencilled motifs. The frescoes are dated to the early fourteenth century, a chronology further corroborated by a Glagolitic graffito mentioning a priest Anton from Rijeka and the year 1416. Although the author of the mural decoration remains unknown, stylistic features associate his activity with the sub-Alpine pictorial milieu, within which continental elements intertwine with influences of the Italian Trecento.

The wall paintings were uncovered by Branko Fučić in the 1950s, and he reported on them in 1963 in the publication Istarske freske.

Iconographic programme:

North wall: 1. Adoration of the Magi.