Church of St. Michael, Kastav

The church of St. Michael rises on top of a hill between Kastav and Matulji, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. It is a historic place because on this hill in 1871 the first Istrian tabor (mass assembly) was held, an event regarded as the beginning of the national revival of Croats in Istria.

It is a Romanesque single-nave building with a semicircular apse. On the interior walls traces of badly damaged frescoes can be seen. In the 19th century a porch was added, the so-called klonica, the work of a local building workshop, and the bell gable was renovated. A holy water stoup was later built into the stone table of the altar. The church was thoroughly restored in the first decade of this century. It is believed that both it and its surroundings are a possible archaeological site of the Kastav area, and it is the only one that has retained the value of its views.

The church is a protected cultural good, entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-112.

Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: DGU (centre of the settlement).