Church of St John the Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist, on the northern side of the Sava Bohinjka just across the stone bridge, is what every medieval church should be: small, on a reflective lake and full of exquisite frescoes. It is the most beautiful and evocative church in all of Slovenia, with the possible exception of the Church of the Holy Trinity at Hrastovlje in Primorska. Unfortunately it was under renovation at the time of research.

The nave of the church is Romanesque, but the Gothic presbytery dates from about 1440. A large portion of the latter's walls, ceilings and arches are covered with 15th- and 16th-century frescoes. As you face the arch from the nave, look for the frescoes on either side depicting the beheading of the church's patron saint. On the opposite side of the arch, to the left, is Abel making his offering to God and, to the right, Cain with his inferior one. Upon the shoulder of history's first murderer sits a white devil - a very rare symbol. Behind you on the lower walls of the presbytery are rows of angels with vampire-like teeth; look for the three men above them singing. They have goitres, once a common affliction in mountainous regions due to the lack of iodine in the diet. The carved wooden head of St John the Baptist on one of the side altars dates from 1380. The poet Valentin Vodnik (1758-1819), who lived and worked in nearby Gorjuše, left his name in pencil on the back of the high altar.

Several paintings on the outside southern wall, one dating back to the early 14th century, depict St Christopher. In the Middle Ages people believed they would not die on the day they had gazed upon an icon of the patron saint of travellers. No fools, our ancestors - they painted them on churches near roads and villages - but apparently they forgot to look at least once in their lives. They're all now dead, of course.