St. Proculus church and museum
Naturns is known because of the beautiful nature that surrounds the town but also because of one of the oldest churches in South Tyrol called St. Proculus that dates back to the 7th century.
It was built between 630 and 650 in place of an old house that stood here before. The church is dedicated to St. Proculus who was a bishop of Verona and survived the persecutions of Diocletian.
St. Proculus church was restored between the 12th and the 14th century. In the 14th century it was used by the Annenberg family as a burial ground. In the 17th century the plague was spreading across Europe and every 4th inhabitant of Naturns died because of this disease. Close to the church a mass grave has been established.
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The fields around the church are full of fruit trees. I have never seen so many fruit trees anywhere else. Even when you drive towards Naturns you can see that it's the main product of the region. Fruit trees are everywhere and you can occasionally enjoy cold short shower as the irrigation system is rotating to cover all the trees and it very often happens that paths are sprayed too 😊
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Most of the fruit trees in the neighborhood are apples. If you look carefully you can see many apples hanging on the trees.
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Behind the field is the entrance to the church..
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The church itself is very small but still impressive. The entrance fee is EUR 2.50 and you will be guided by a local person who will try to answer all your questions.
The guide told us that all frescoes are original and that the church is a national monument. The frescoes are the most ancient frescoes of the German speaking area and the most complete early fresco cycle of Tyrol. The oldest frescoes date back to italicsthe 7th century.
In the past people tried to renovate the frescoes and painted missing parts on the walls but it is forbidden now. The frescoes should be kept in their original state and no renovation is allowed as it would be difficult to recognize the old and new parts after the work would be finished.
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Next to the St. Proculus church is the Proculus Museum, which was inaugurated in 2006. The museum is dedicated to the unique fresco that was found in the church and also to the historical plague cemetery located outside the church.
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The underground museum takes visitors into 1500 years of history of the area around Naturns. Four installations present the Late Antiquity, Early Medieval, Gothic and Plague eras.
We arrived before the lunch break and had approximately 45 minutes for our stay, but it was enough for us. If you would like to read every sign it would take you considerably longer...
These models show us how the construction of the church...
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This part refers to the plague and talks about how people were dying and how it was not possible to help them. The plague quickly spread through Europe and corpses littered the streets.
The victim’s skin turned black in patches and inflamed glands in the groin, combined with compulsive vomiting, swollen tongue and splitting headaches made it a horrible, agonizing killer.
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The most exciting and valuable part of the museum are the frescoes that were transferred from the St. Proculus church. These frescoes were discovered in 1923.
This fresco depicts St. Catherine. She is the patron of philosophers and scholars and is believed to help protect against sudden death.
The legend says that during her torture, she professed that she had consecrated her virginity to Jesus Christ, her spouse, and was sentenced to death. The spiked wheel by which she was to be killed broke when she touched it, and she was then beheaded.
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The crucifixion fresco dates back to 1330/1340. This fresco was found under another crucifixion fresco from 1400. It was attached to the younger fresco because at the time of its creation, the color blended and glued together. The restoration successfully separated those two frescoes and created a second original work.
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Although the church and the museum are small in size, they capture long history of Naturns and show us various aspects of life in the valley. These buildings might not be impressive from outside, but it is worth going there as you will discover fascinating details inside.
I must say that I enjoyed both and if driving there wouldn't be so difficult I would definitely come back.
I hope you have enjoyed another tour with me.
Thank you for reading,
Cheers,
Martina
ok you did it... you found a topic that I can't call my favorite :) (plagues)
Other than having to think of all the pain that people had to go through by losing loved ones, the post was still awesome. (just not may favorite) ;)
I love seeing the old buildings and images... and of course the scenery is awesome :)
So instead of your usual A+++++++++++++++++++++++ .............you only get an A+++++++++++++++
Hahaha, I made it! I knew that there must be something what you wouldn't enjoy and here we are :)
You have to think about it from the education point of view ;)
Thank you for your honesty!
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #583.
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Howdy Martina! wow..that place is stunning. I mean the countryside but the ancient church is also amazing. I'm shocked that something built in the 600's is still in standing in great shape today!
That's 1,200 years before our country was even formed! Everything is so dang old over there! lol. Those frescos had to be made super well too in order to be in such good shape. What was wrong with getting there? The roads are bad or something? I forgot. lol.
Hahaha, I always laugh when I see a movie or a documentary from the US and they talk about old buildings that are 100 years old. My grandma lives in an older house, lol.
Well, you drive through mountain passes which is no fun. There are so many sharp curves and cliffs. It's quite dangerous and very easy to get sick in the car..
Howdy today Martina! oh, I know...the age thing...everything over there is so flippin ancient! Except you of course, you are just a kid! lol.
And the driving issue...I thought that you would love that type of driving if you were driving your sports car. But I guess I was wrong. Shoot, that makes the 2nd time this year that I've been wrong about something! Now I can't call myself Mr. Perfect! I'm going to go to your next post to see if I can be wrong about something else!
Hahaha, and I'll remain a kid for a long time as I eat healthy :)
I do when I drive but it was my husband who was driving as I was super tired. 2nd time this year that you've been wrong? I don't believe you! It's can't be that you've been right most of time during 7 months :D
ha! Howdy Martina! You know, that is a great ...how do I say it?...a great advantage of your vegan diet. You can promote it as being "anti-aging" right? That is a powerful selling point to anyone older than...35 or 40 right? And for most people it IS an anti-aging diet because the poisons of the typical diet are killing people off and definitely shortening their life spans.
Ok, that makes sense about the driving because I remember that you are some kind of crazy race car driver in your car! lol. Oh, the thing about being wrong twice...uh...I may have exaggerated just a little bit. But not much. They don't call me Mr. Perfect for nothing! lol.
Well, I prefer to promote it as compassion more than a diet :) Anti-aging is just the side effect of what I'm going for animals. If you go vegan because of these things you might eventually slip back. But if you go vegan because you truly believe that animals feel pain, form families, have their own personalities and are very clever and when you're against speciesism then there is no way back.
Hahaha, I wouldn't call me that but I do enjoy driving fast :D
Oh, I'm used to your exaggerating already. Mrs. J must have a lot of work with you :D
Howdy Martina! So the main thrust of your veganism is because of what a typical diet does to animals? I agree with everything you mentioned about animals but I am not sure about them being very clever. I mean yes some are, but the ones used for food, I don't know if I would call them clever. But I'm open to being convinced of that attribute.
But "speciesism" ..that is a new term, what in the world is that? I don't know if it is good or bad!
Mrs. J. deals with me easily. She just ignores me!
Good morning cowboy :)
Yes, I've became vegan because of the compassion. Because I couldn't participate anymore in animals exploitation. Because I simply had to align my values with my actions. I couldn't say that I love animals and then eat them or wear products made from them. It just doesn't make sense. All animals are equal and I couldn't pet one and eat another. And if you make this click there is no other way than being vegan.
Pigs are the 5th most intelligent animals in the world. They are even more intelligent than dogs. They are highly social, form strong relationships and have a long-term memory. They are totally funny and behave just like dogs.
Cows are not that intelligent but they are very social, form friendships and can even fetch a ball! They cry so painfully just like we would if someone would steal our babies because someone else want to drink their milk. Once you hear how they cry you can never drink milk again.
Chickens are very intelligent and empathic! They pass the knowledge from generation to generation, can recognize faces (even human) and know that when you hide an object it is not lost and they will look for it.
They all experience joy, loneliness, pain, fear and all emotions just like dogs or even we do. So why eat one and pet another? This is also the principle of speciesism. It's like racism just with different species (to explain it briefly).
I could have long discussions about these things :)
Nice piece of history to learn about, pretty surroundings up in the mountains.
Definitely not right that one should pay a church to enter, I know it is done in many places of late, I still feel everything in church properties belong to the people, after all it was the people who funded this right from the start.
I agree with you that it's not right to pay for a church visit but this one is held more as a museum. There are no services done and inside is a guide who is there to tell you something about the history. BUT there are churches that are still used and you have to pay to enter and this is truly not right. But in some places the money is used purely for the reconstruction which I don't mind. But I don't like if someone is getting richer from such entrance fees :)
Thank you for stopping by Joan!
Museums no one minds paying for, keeping history is important.
Guided tours are well worth while, another reason one does not mind paying where services are rendered.
Working churches should never charge, most are wealthy, perhaps I am a bit one sided but when the Notre Dame burned, people were enthusiastically offering great sums of money to rebuild (which they have started), while Mozambique had been hit by two horrendous storms, people are still seeking assistance to this day.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/lead-leak-from-notre-dame-cathedral-fire-prompts-lawsuit
https://reliefweb.int/report/mozambique/mozambique-cyclone-idai-and-cyclone-kenneth-response-situation-report-10-1-18-july
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Very cool tour, Martina! That water from the irrigation system tastes really good, on hot sunny days! 😃
Hahaha, that is right! It was so hot that I didn't mind getting sprayed :)
Ooooo lovely photos and very interesting narrative with them. Gosh St Catherine had a tough time of it!
So many apple trees wow the air must have smelled amazing - and getting sprayed in the watering just sounds blissful 💚❤️🌈
Thank you dear Sallybeth! I honestly don't remember any smell.. it could be because those apples were not yet ripe.. or I'm just too ignorant :)
haha ok yes probably because they were not ripe.... I am very sure your nose works just fine hahaha
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