Podbrezje - Churches

Churches

The parish church is dedicated to Saint James, but Podbrezje is better known for its second church. The picturesque fortified Tabor Church on a rock above the motorway from Ljubljana to the Karawanken Tunnel is a well-known landmark on the route. It was built some time soon after 1471 as a fortification where the locals could escape from Ottoman raids. The worst Ottoman incursions across Upper Carniola and into Carinthia were in 1476 and 1477. The building of the walls around the church was conditioned by the favourable natural position on an elevation in the middle of a plain, affording a view in all directions. The walls surrounding the church are irregularly shaped and were built on two levels with a roofed walkway, balistraria, and defense tower. The defence tower overlooked the only entrance over a drawbridge. On the western side the church was fortified with a moat and dike. This was also where valuables, food, and livestock were kept. The church is dedicated to Saint Benedict, but the church is often referred to as the Church of Saint Benedict and Our Lady of Sorrows, although this is not strictly true because only the chapel built outside the church on the site of the defence tower is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. One of the paintings in the church is by Ivana Kobilca, who lived in the village for a while.