HISTORY

The Chapel of St. Helen in Senkovec was the shrine of the Pauline monastery that was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and All Saints. The monastery was founded in 1376 by the Lackovic nobility. The construction was completed by the Counts of Celje who in 1404 became the owners of the monastery. When in 1546 the Zrinski family became the new owners of Medimurje, the monastery changed its name to the Monastery of St. Helen, and a hexagonal chapel for the burial of its members was built next to the southern church wall. The monastery complex was damage during the Protestant unrests of 1570 the, with further heavy damages caused by the great fire of 1695. Following the fire, the church was completely rebuilt in the baroque style. The disastrous fire of 1738 caused new damages, upon which new repairs and the last major reconstruction of the building took place. The monastery estate was then taken over by the Royal Chamber. During the Napoleonic wars, the monastery served as an army depot, and the church was turned into a bakery. In 1802, the Pauline monastery estate became the ownership of Baron Vinko Knezevic who turned the monastery into his family castle. During this reconstruction, the dilapidated church nave and the Zrinski chapel were pulled down and the church shrine transformed into a court chapel. In 1859, Count –uro Festetic, the owner of the estate, had the monastery pulled down, sparing only the south-western wing, which was, however, destroyed in the earthquake of 1880.

ARHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS

During the archaeological excavations that were conducted between 1990 and 1997, ruins of a Pauline monastery church, a section of the monastery itself, as well as ruins of the 16th-century hexagonal mausoleum of the Zrinski family were discovered next to the existing Gothic chapel. The site is not yet completely researched, and excavations are being continued. The reconstruction and preservation of this culture monument is the responsibility of the Cakovec Museum of Medimurje.

PAINTING

In 1954, the conservators conducted a research of painted layers in the interior of St. Helen's Chapel in Senkovec. In addition to baroque paintings, they found remains of gothic frescoes. In the period between 1991 and 1992, remains of a top painted layer dating from the 19th century were discovered. On almost all walls a gothic layer was discovered, except for the ceiling which was rebuilt in the late 17th century following a fire. The Senkovec cycle of murals is believed to have been painted by an Italian master who lived and worked in northern Italy in the last quarter of the 14th c.

St. Helen's Chapel in Senkovec - south-eastern facade with a
covered mausoleum of the Zrinski family dating from the 16th c.

St. Helen's Chapel in Senkovec - mural paintings in the interior (last quarter of the 14th c.),
Italian master

St. Helen's Chapel in Senkovec
-|a mural painting depicting woman martyrs on the south-eastern side of the eastern window niche
(last quarter of the 14th c., Italian master

St. Helen's Chapel in Senkovec - mural painting depicting woman martyrs
on the north-eastern side of the eastern window niche (last quarter of the 14th c., Italian master