Early Christian bishop and martyr St Quirinus, patron saint of Krk Town on Krk island, Croatia, is commemorated by this stone plaque above Mala Vrata, the small town gate in its defensive walls. Quirinus is said to have been hurled into a river by the Romans with a millstone tied around his neck.
Krk Town, Krk island, Croatia: the early Christian bishop and martyr Saint Quirinus of Siscia, thrown into a river by the Romans with a millstone tied around his neck, is commemorated by this stone tablet above Mala Vrata, the small town gate piercing the ancient defensive walls. St Quirinus (Serbo-Croat: Sv. Kvirin) served as Bishop of Siscia (modern Sisak, southeast of Zagreb) in the 4th century. According to legend, he was arrested in 309 AD during the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletian. Although he managed to convert his jailer to Christianity, he was then taken to Sabaria (present-day Szombathely in Hungary) and hurled into a river after he refused to renounce his faith. A variant of the legend states that Quirinus escaped death by untying himself from the millstone, fled his persecutors and continued to preach. Whatever the truth of the legend, his relics were eventually interred in a church in Rome. A cult grew up around him and he was named as one of the national spiritual protectors of the Republic of San Marino. A church dedicated to Quirinus was built in San Marino in 1550 and in Croatia, churches at Jesenovik and in Krk Town itself also bear his name. He became the patron saint of Krk Town, where a similar relief carving features on the main well in the Vela Market Place.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Krk Town, Krk island, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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