Hrastovlje, the fortified church where skeletons lead everyone by the hand

The Holy Trinity church and its wall

The Church of the Holy Trinity is a 15th-century Gothic church, built of stone, with a vaulted roof and a tall bell tower. In the 16th century it was surrounded by a high stone wall with two defensive towers to protect it from Turkish raids, and that wall is what gives it the look of a small fortress in the middle of the countryside.

Visit Koper’s timeline says the frescoes were commissioned by the parish priest of Kubed, Tomić Vrhović, and painted by the master John of Kastav. They were finished in 1490. For centuries they stayed hidden, and the interior was not uncovered and restored until 1951, under the direction of Jože Pohlen.

What does the Danse Macabre show?

It is a procession. The living walk towards death alongside skeletons, and among them are people of every social class, from the powerful to the humblest. The idea, as Visit Koper sums it up, is that death treats everyone alike. The Slovenian Tourist Board ranks it among the world’s best preserved, and to me it is one of those works you understand without knowing anything about art history.

It is not the only thing to see. The frescoes, in earthy colours, also tell the creation of the world, the expulsion of Adam and Eve, the Passion of Christ, the Apostles, the Coronation of Mary and the Three Kings. I would take time to go round them all, wall by wall, before coming back to the dance.

Opening hours, price and booking

The church is at Hrastovlje 19a, in the Črni Kal postcode. It opens every day from 9am to 5pm, but always by prior arrangement, and Visit Koper has a form to request a slot. Admission is €5 for adults, €2 for students, €1.50 for primary school pupils and €3 per person for groups of more than twenty.

The village has hardly any services. I would sleep in Koper and come up in the morning, and with a car I would pair it with Socerb Castle on the edge of the Karst, or with other inland villages such as Koštabona or Črni Kal, whose church of St Valentine has a tilted bell tower.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Koper on Expedia and filter by area before price.

By bike or on foot through the valley

Visit Koper suggests starting a bike ride in Hrastovlje along the waymarked route K3 to Dol pri Hrastovljah and finishing at St Stephen’s church in Zanigrad, with views over the Hrastovlje valley and the sea. It is a way to see rural Istria, the villages clustered on hilltops, which the coast does not show you. The rest of the area is set out in Slovenian Istria and in the coast and Karst. If you like small stone places like this, there are more among the prettiest villages in Slovenia.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Koper on Booking.com and filter by area before price.