St. Martin's Church, Bled, Slovenia

The present neo-Gothic church, consecrated to St. Martin, was built in 1905 on the site of the previous Gothic church dating from the 15th century, although the very first chapel was erected here before the year 1000.

The new church was built following the plans of Prof. Friedrich von Schmidt (the architect of the Vienna City Hall), but these were consequently changed by architect Josip Vancaš – namely in their design of the interior. The majority of sculptures were made by restoration specialist Ivan Vurnik from Radovljica and were produced from the best Carrera marble.

The church was adorned with frescoes by painter Slavko Pengov between 1932 and 1937. In front of the church there is a garden signpost which was designed by the great Slovenian architect, Jože Plečnik, in the years before World War II. The well-preserved walls from the 15th century remind us of the periods of Turkish invasions to these lands.

This church was constructed by some of the greatest names of the Slovenian art and architecture, including Jože Plečnik. Take a look and admire the marvellous gothic architecture and frescoes.

References:

Turizem Bled

Religious sites in Slovenia

User Reviews

Zoltan Paczona (9 months ago)
A beautiful church on Slovenia's only island. You can visit the tower and the toilets with the ticket, too, but the 40 minutes you have if you arrive by pletna boat is barely enough for everything. Definitely worth a visit, it's a magical place and the highlight of our visit to Bled.

Brian Albury (9 months ago)
Getting to the island is most of the fun, but the island is still kinda cool, gotta pay to get in the little church though

Michał Jamro (10 months ago)
Entrance to church and churches tower costs several euro that will help maintain this whole place, but in the ticket you get infinite uses of wishing bell inside the church ;)

Paul Simonik (10 months ago)
Neat little church on a small island in Lake Bled which can be accessed by personal boat or ferry. Admission fee seemed a bit much for the interior, as the views of the exterior were more impressive.

Daniel Atkinson (10 months ago)
12€ to visit a rather plane church and a viewing tower with obscured views. The island is beautiful. But don't bother paying to go in the church and tower.

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