Church of Saints John and Paul, Muggia


The Church of Saints John and Paul is the main place of Catholic worship in Muggia, in the province of Trieste, seat of the homonymous parish belonging to the diocese of Trieste.

History

The church, dedicated to Saints John and Paul, was built on the remains of a previous sacred building with three apses and was consecrated by the Bishop of Trieste Arlongo dei Visgoni on 29 December 1263. The Romanesque building was augmented, in the middle of the 15th century, by the cladding of the facade in white stone slabs, an example of Gothic-Venetian style. The church underwent a total remodeling between 1444 and 1467. In 1865 the facade, lying off-axis, was rebuilt from the rose window upwards and lowered by half a metre. The choir was lengthened in 1873 and a new high altar was consecrated in 1877.

Description

Facade

The facade is in white stone with reliefs in the lunette of the portal; the whole is dominated by an imposing rose window in typical Gothic style. The upper part has the shape of a tribble. The same motif is present in the arches of the rose window, in the mullioned windows of the large windows and in the two windows discovered in 1937 under the mortar on the flank. The facade has a rose window in the upper part with the image of the Madonna and Child in the center surrounded by three epigraphs. The one on the left recalls the restoration of 1865, the one above the beginning of works on the facade under Bishop Nicolò while the one on the right mentions the podestà Pietro Dandolo, who followed the completion of the works. In the lower part, two elegant and slender Gothic windows flank the portal, on which is superimposed a lunette with an inflected arch, inside which an original representation of the Holy Trinity adored by Saints John and Paul is located in high relief.

Interior

The interior, divided into three naves, was restored to its original state at the end of the 1930s, after the consolidations, the restorations and the removal of the lateral Baroque altars. A fragment of the exceptional 14th-century fresco can be seen which once occupied the central nave. Along the walls are some of the processional lights from the 18th and 19th centuries belonging to the old brotherhoods.
On the counterfacade choir loft is the Mascioni opus 939 pipe organ, built in 1971; with mixed transmission, it also has 16 registers on its two manuals and pedal. It was restored and expanded to 18 registers in 1991.

Bell tower

The bell tower consists of a square base, on which the building stands to a height of 35 metres. It is divided into 4 floors, embellished with Euganean trachyte frames, while the last one is embellished with mullioned windows. In all likelihood its construction dates back to well before the raising of the current cathedral. Indeed, the current clock has been present since the 14th century.

Parish priests and administrators

  • can. Pietro Buran ;
  • can. Giambattista Zaccaria, parish administrator;
  • Floriano Ubaldini, parish administrator;
  • Giovanni Ubaldini, parish priest;
  • Pietro Degrassi, parish administrator;
  • Giuseppe Calice, parish priest;
  • Giovanni Maria Derossi, parish administrator;
  • Carlo Mecchia, parish priest;
  • Clemente Seubla, parish priest;
  • Sebastiano Merlato, parish administrator;
  • Antonio Urbanaz, parish priest;
  • Teobaldo Beacco parish administrator;
  • Antonio Germek parish administrator;
  • Giovanni Manega parish administrator;
  • Giuseppe Ziac then Ziani, parish administrator;
  • Mario Mizzan parish priest;
  • Giorgio Apollonio parish priest;
  • Giorgio Petrarcheni parish priest;
  • Silvano Latin parish priest;
  • Andrea Destradi parish priest.