Our Lady of the Rocks is one of the two

islets An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

off the coast of Perast in the

Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

(the other being Sveti Đorđe island). It is an

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those th ...

created by bulwark of rocks and by sinking old and seized ships loaded with rocks. The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Church of Our Lady of the Rocks ( it, Chiesa della Madonna dello Scarpello) is the largest building on the islet; it has a museum attached. There is also a small gift shop close to the church and a navigation light at the western end of the islet. According to legend, the islet was made over the centuries by local seamen who kept an ancient oath after finding the icon of Madonna and Child on the rock in the sea on 22 July 1452. Upon returning from each successful voyage, they laid a rock in the Bay. Over time, the islet gradually emerged from the sea.''Gospa od Skrpjela (Our Lady of the Rocks)''
25 April 1997 The custom of throwing rocks into the sea is alive even nowadays. Every year on the sunset of 22 July, an event called ''fašinada'' in the local dialect, when local residents take their boats and throw rocks into the sea, widening the surface of the island, takes place.http://www.montenegro.com

(by Nebojša Mandić) The church was renovated in 1722.''Gospa od Skrpjela (Our Lady of the Rocks)''
25 April 1997 The church contains 68 paintings by

Tripo Kokolja Tripo Kokolja (28 February 1661 – 18 October 1713) was a painter from the Bay of Kotor. He is chiefly remembered today for introducing the still life and landscape painting into the art of the eastern Adriatic. Life and work Born in Perast, ...

, a famous 17th-century baroque artist from Perast. His most important painting, ten meters long, is ''The Death of the Virgin''. There are also paintings by Italian artists, and an icon (circa 1452) of ''Our Lady of the Rocks'', by Lovro Dobričević of Kotor. The church also houses a collection of silver votive tablets and a famous votive

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

embroidered by Jacinta Kunić-Mijović from Perast. It took her 25 years to finish it while waiting for her darling to come from a long journey, and eventually, she became blind. She used golden and silver fibres but what makes this tapestry so famous is the fact that she also embroidered her own hair in it.http://www.montenegro.travel
''Montenegro, Multicultural Heritage''
/ref>Adriatic Travel Club

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References

External links

* {{Coord, 42, 29, 12, N, 18, 41, 20, E, region:ME_type:isle, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Montenegro Islands of Montenegro Islands of the Adriatic Sea Perast Tourist attractions in Kotor Artificial islands

See also

References

External links