Kužno znamenje
Za cerkvijo Svetega Martina stoji kužno znamenje, ki je eno najstarejših v svoji vrsti in je zaščiteno ter razglašeno za spomenik. Metlika je bila poleg napadov Turkov in Uskokov deležna še vseh drugih dobrot tistega časa. Ena takšnih je bila brez dvoma črna kuga. O beli kugi se ljudem takrat gotovo še sanjalo ni.
Zamislite si izgled Metlike tistega časa: ozke ulice, brez kanalizacije, brez smetarjev, brez komunale in komunalnega gospodarstva. Na te ulice, čeprav tlakovane, so metali meščani iz hiš vse česar niso potrebovali v hišah: odpadke, crknjene mačke, blagodišečo vsebino svojih kahel, cunje, pomije in še in še. To se je na ulici čez dan lepo segrevalo, uparjalo in širilo prijeten vonj po svobodnem mestnem zraku, ki so ga vdihavali meščani. Tudi v hišah se verjetno niso preveč trudili s higieno in so na veliko veselje domačinov gojili uši in bolhe. Metličani so cepali kot muhe, da jih niso sproti utegnili pokopati na farnem pokopališču pri Treh farah, ampak kar tam, kjer stoji danes cerkvica sv. Roka ali pa kužno znamenje pri Martinovi cerkvici.
Kuga je obiskala Metličane kar nekajkrat, najbolj delavna je bila v letih 1431, 1510, 1646, 1647, 1691. Potem pa se je kugi zdelo, da ne opravlja dela dovolj temeljito, pa se je odločila, da bo ostala v gosteh kar deset let in sicer od leta 1720 pa do leta 1730 in jih spravljala ob živce in dober spanec.
Plague Column
The plague column behind St Martin’s church is one of the oldest of its kind and has been declared a protected monument. Aside from Turkish and Uskok raids, Metlika also received all manner of other benefits of the time. Not least the black plague. The people of the era doubtless never even dreamed of the white plague.
Imagine Metlika’s appearance at the time: narrow streets, no sewage system, no garbage collectors, no community amenities or communal economy. The townspeople threw everything they had no need for in their houses onto these streets, even though they were paved: refuse, dead cats, the aromatic contents of their bedpans, rags, swill, and on and on. All this warmed up nicely in the streets during the day, evaporated, and spread pleasant odours through the free town air breathed by the townspeople. They probably practiced a similar lack of hygiene within the houses as well, and so – to the great delight of locals – reared lice and fleas. Metlika’s townspeople dropped like flies, and since the parish cemetery at Tri Fare could not accommodate everyone, they were buried on the site of the present-day Church of St Roch or at the plague column by Martin’s Church.
The plague visited Metlika quite a few times; it was most productive in 1431, 1510, 1646, 1647, 1691. After which, the plague thought it wasn’t doing its job diligently enough and decided to stick around for a combined period of ten years, i.e. from 1720 to 1730, costing the locals their nerves and good sleep.