Assumption of Mary Church

Assumption of Mary Church stands in the small hamlet of Brith, part of Lokavec village in the Municipality of Ajdovščina, south-western Slovenia. Built on the site of a probable Roman shrine, it is the oldest cultural monument in the area. The present building began as a Gothic church before 1450, when Passion scenes were painted on its walls. The church’s long history is marked by several enlargements and restorations. In 1637 the typical Oglej bell tower was completed, and in 1696 the nave was extended and two side chapels added. A century later the interior was baroqueised, and the main altar painted by Anton Cebej in 1772. The 1857 organ was destroyed in the Second World War, but a 19th-century positive organ now stands inside. Visitors enter through a stone-walled churchyard that once held a cemetery. Inside, the Gothic nave is low and narrow, while the raised presbytery contains a 1699 altar by Mihael Kuše. Above the sacristy door the date 1750 records the last major enlargement. The 1987 restoration uncovered the 15th-century fresco of a young saint in red robes, now displayed in the church.