A few steps from Narodni trg, this handsome neobaroque church was built at the turn of the 19th century, when Venice was the style setter for the Istrian coast. With its 63m-high bell tower as high as St Mark’s in Venice, it’s the largest parish church in Istria, and worth a visit for its magnificent altars alone. The mummies are in a curtained-off area behind the main altar.
In the dim lighting, the complete bodies of Nikolosa Bursa, Giovanni Olini and Leon Bembo resemble wooden dolls in their glass cases. Assorted body parts of three other saints complete the display. As you examine the skin, hair and fingernails of these long-dead people, a tape in English narrates their life stories. Considered to be Europe’s best-preserved mummy, the body of St Nikolosa is said to emit a 32m bioenergy circle that has caused 50 miraculous healings.
If the mummies have whetted your appetite for saintly relics, head to the Collection of Sacral Art (Zbirka Sakralne Umjetnosti) in the sacristy. Here there are hundreds of relics belonging to 150 different saints, including the casket with St Mary of Egypt’s tongue. Make sure you cover up as the eccentric parish priest is known for turning away ‘inappropriately dressed’ people.
