CHURCH IN THE GRAD VILLAGE

The pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the Grad village

The parish church stands in the middle of the Grad village and is constituted of the belfry, the nave and a narrow presbytery. The pilgrimage church, dedicated to the assumption of the Virgin Mary, was first built in the 11th century. The Gothic presbytery was completed in the 14th century. The ceiling that was initially flat was arched in 1660 and in 1729 a 35 m high belfry was built. Under the altar lays the crypt of the Szechy family, whose coat of arms is on the center stone of the presbytery.

The high altar originates in 1778 and holds a statue of Mary with a child from 1510. The nave bears the mark of the architect Jože Plečnik, whose ideas were used in 1955 to renovate the ceiling of the nave and the chancel. At the south side there is a side altar of the Holy Family and in the northern wall of the presbytery there is a gothic portal that leads into the chapel of the Holy Mother of Lourdes. The parish celebrates its biggest holiday on August 15 (the Assumption of the Virgin Mary).