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Archaeological excavations of the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gora during the period from 2008 until 2011
Juraj Belaj
orcid.org/0000-0001-8953-3820
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Filomena Sirovica
orcid.org/0000-0001-6662-8915
Abstract
During the period from 2008 until 2011 the Institute of Archaeology, for the sake of complete restoration, undertook the archaeological research of the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gora near Petrinja. The rescue excavations were carried out on the front side of the foundations of the early Gothic church that was erected by the Templars. Two trenches on the eastern and on the western side of the church were investigated as well as the area of the sacristy. Besides the interesting architectural elements from different times - from the Romanesque apse to the Modern Age extensions, 424 graves which can be roughly dated to the Modern Ages (younger stage), the Gothic phase of the church (middle stage) and, finally, to the time before the construction of a Gothic church, that is, to the time of burying around a Romanesque church (the oldest phase of burials), were investigated.
The finds from all phases of burials deserve special attention, but the most interesting are those left behind by the military orders - the Templars and Hospitallers. To the period of Hospitallers we can attribute, for example, two exemplars of silver denar of Hungaro-Croatian king Louis I, silver signet ring with a motif of lily, and two oval single-piece cast buckles with one pin found on the hips of one decedent. The Templars also left behind few exemplars of money, for example picolo, i.e. “Scyphate” denar of some Venetian Doge (Enrico Dandolo?) and silver Slavonian banovac probably of King Ladislaus IV Kumanac.
There are also different pewter rings and a bronze buckle with “a series of beads” (German Perlstab) on the outer bar. Two findings particularly stand out - carved bone buckle in the form of two lions facing each other, with their paws joined, and an oval brooch with engraved inscription written in the beneventan script: AVeMAInLNROAICS. This inscription can be subdivided into two parts, with the AVE MA being an abbreviation of Ave Maria, and the InLNROAICS an invocation for: In Laude Nostri Register Omnipotent Altissimi Salvatori Jesui Christi (“In Praise of our King All-powerful Almighty Jesus Christ the Saviour”).
Keywords
Gora; Templars; Hospitallers; sacred architecture; Romanesque style; Gothic style; cemetery; bone buckle; ring brooch
Hrčak ID:
106369
URI
Publication date:
12.6.2012.
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