Sacral heritage in the area of Fazana and Valbandon

THE PARISH CHURCH OF SS. COSMAS AND DAMIAN stands in the square, close to the seaside. An aisleless Gothic edifice that later gained elements of the Baroque style and has a rectangular presbytery and vestry. Its facade has a preserved Gothic portal in whose lunette; in a high relief stand the church titularies. It was built in the late Gothic style of the 15th century, while two spolia from the 8th century on the outer wall probably belong to the earlier phase of construction of the church. Beside the church stands a detached belfry mullioned at the top with two openings and ending in a pyramid. The interior of the church is furnished with five marble altars with wooden retables. The northern church wall holds a painting representing The Last Supper made in 1598 by the well-known painter from Zadar, Zorzi Ventura. The main altar too, holds a fine painting depicting Resurrected Christ with Saints, oil on canvas bearing all the features of the Venetian painter Leonardo Corone, painted around 1590. The walls of the vestry still bear traces of frescoes probably made by masters from Friuli in the 16th century.

CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL stands in the perimeter part of the historic core. The aisleless small church was built in the 14th century probably on the foundations of an older one from the 9th century whose remains have not been preserved. The subsequently added portico (“lopica”) is from the 17th century. The interior has a ribbed vaulting, walls still bear traces of frescoes from the 15th century, while the altar holds a wooden polychrome sculpture of the Virgin with Child, also from the 15th century. It was most probably made by a local master influenced by the Friulian workshops.

THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE stands at the local cemetery. It is an aisleless church without an apse, with a portico (“lopica”) and bell-gable mullioned in one light. The exterior and interior of the church are rather simple. The church was reconstructed in the beginning of the 20th century when all elements belonging to earlier phases of its construction were removed. There are no data about its original appearance; however, it is assumed to have been built in the 16th century. Its interior is furnished with three altars.

THE CHURCH OF ST. ELISEUS lies in the gentle landscape, northeast of the town. A small, aisleless church with a polygonal Byzantine-type apse was built on the ruins of a late Classical rustic palace in the second half of the 6th century. Some original architectural elements (e.g. transennae) can still be seen. Above the facade once rose the bell-gable probably mullioned in one light. In 1956, several family graves cut into the rock were discovered beneath the church. Apart from pottery and glassware, they also yielded metal ornaments belonging to clothing. Remains of other sacral structures in the area of Fažana Excavations from 1986-88 at Vela Boška site in Valbandon near Fažana yielded foundations of an early medieval aisleless church with a polygonal apse on the outside. It was erected on the remains of a rural-type Classical settlement (villa rustica). The valuable pre-Romanesque stone furnishings date this site from the end of the 6th century to approximately the 10th century. The church of St. Lawrence also belongs to the Middle Ages with remains of only some of its stone furnishings and architectural elements from the Byzantine, pre-Romanesque and Gothic period. The church of St. Pelegrin was also built in the medieval period. Decorative stone elements from its pre-Romanesque period have partly been preserved. Remains from these three sites are presently kept at the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula.

THE CHURCH OF BLESSED MIROSLAV BULEŠIĆ _stands within the MUP Valbandon complex. _It is a little aisleless church, which is being restored over the past years. The church is consecrated to Blessed Miroslav Bulešić, Istrian priest and martyr, patron of the Police Chaplain Corps – Istria County Police Department. The church holds an altarpiece from 2018 dedicated to Istrian martyrs.