Medulin - Parish Church of St Agnes

Medulin is a seaside town in southern Istria whose older settlement rises on gentle ground above a shallow bay. Although a large visitor district has developed beside the coast, the streets and closely grouped houses of the old part remain an important element of its recognisable appearance.

The parish church of St Agnes stands on higher ground above the older part of Medulin. Its slender twin towers are visible from much of the bay and form the town's characteristic skyline above the rows of houses. Streets rising gradually from the waterfront lead through the settlement to the church.

The present three-aisled church was built in 1893 to plans by the architect Angelo Meyer and consecrated the following year. It was erected beside an older church that had become too small for the growing settlement. The matching bell towers assumed their current form in the early twentieth century, with the second completed in 1912.

Alongside more recent furnishings, the interior preserves older objects including a late Gothic wooden statue of St Agnes and a stone holy-water stoup dated 1696. A large apse mosaic by the Croatian artist Josip Botteri Dini gives the sanctuary a strong modern focus.

The gallery currently contains one panoramic photograph of the church rising above the roofs, taken from the bay area. It clearly explains the role of the towers as landmarks but does not show the interior. A visit can be combined naturally with a walk through the older streets before descending towards the Medulin waterfront.