Church of St George in Legen

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Cerkev svetega Jurija

Legen, SI-2380 Slovenj gradec

http://gostje.kivi.si/muzej

koroski-pokr.muzej@guest.arnes.si

Phone386 (0) 2 884 2055

Managed byKoroška Regional Museum, Slovenj Gradec

In Autumn 1993, during the restoration of the worn-out pavement in the Church of St George, archaeologists of the Institute for Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage of Maribor came quite unexpectedly upon the ruinous remains of older sacral objects and graves. The Church of St George was already known as a church with a Romanesque plan dating to the second half of the 13th century. As such, it preserved more significant architectural building phases and renovations. Among the archaeological excavations mentioned above, two older construction phases were discovered, from the pre-Romanesque and Romanesque periods respectively. Excavation of the earlier construction phase reveleaed the foundations of a small early medieval (9th-10th century) church with one nave and an inscribed (hidden) apse which had burnt down. On the southern and eastern side of the church were 26 old-Slavonic graves from the same period, probably belonging to the Köttlach cultural group. Objects found in the graves included numerous small bronze shaded hoops with either a single thickened part at the end or an 'S' snare. There were also two round, bronze ornamental clasps. One was of special interest because it was decorated with a peacock, an old Christian symbol of immortality. When the old Carinthia submitted to the Frankish power in the 8th century, intensive Christianisation was carried out by various ecclesiastical institutions, with the help of some secular rulers. The organisation of the Church spread from two large ecclesiastical centres, Salzburg and Aquileia. Objects discovered within the Church of St George are the oldest objects of their kind in the entire Aquileia missionary territory. The excellent presentation of the discovered archaeological remains - glass-covered with a heated, accessible surface and air-conditioning - is a masterpiece of preservation by architect Milan Kovač. He is an experienced specialist with a history of finding technical solutions to similar problems who has worked on archaeological monuments in Etruria, Egypt and China. In 1996 Madam Mira Strmènik received high recognition from the Slovene Archaeological Society for overseeing the entire project connected with the Church of St George, especially for the management of the excavations. The church has since been named a cultural monument of the highest degree.