Our Lady of the Rocks island, located off the coast of Perast in the beautiful Bay of Kotor it is indeed on of the most recognizable landmarks in Montenegro. It's rich history, captivating legends and stunning natural beauty, this island has become an iconic symbol of faith and folklore in our nation.
The people of Bay of Kotor and their lives have always been inextricably related with the sea. Fortunes were made and lost as well as their lives, by the grace of God and the tides. The town of Perast was where the Bay's power and wealth was concentrated, as you will be able to notice by the stone palaces lining the shore of the town. You can also tell by the number of churches in this town that religion was always tide to the lives of the seafarers of Perast.
The legend of this island goes back more than five centuries, legend has it during the summer of July 22nd 1452 two brothers were heading home to Perast from their voyage, one of the brother w as injured from the leg.
They passed by St. George, the 12th century monastery and they noticed and icon of the Virgin May and the child on tome of a rocky outcrop. The brothers took the icon home and the next day the injured brother's leg healed, people from the town believed it was a sign of the virgin May and agreed to build a church in her honor. Since there wasn't enough rock to build the church on that time, this man-made Island was built by scuttling old ships and depositing stones around a small crag, by 1484, 32 years after they found the icon there was an inland with a chapel on it. According to legend, the islet was made over the centuries by the seamen who kept an ancient oath. Upon returning from each successful voyage, they laid a rock in the bay. Over time, the islet gradually emerged from the sea.,
The chapel lost a lot of its treasure when pirates from Tunisia and Carthage attacked Perast on june 22nd 1624, they destroyed churches and took most of the citizens and slaves however in 1630 with they started with the restoration and was rebuilt the way we can see it today.
A visit to the Byzantine style church which was built in 1667. The interior walls and ceiling of the church a total of 68 paintings were decorated by Perast Baroque artist Tripo Kokolja, a famous 17th-century painter and the gorgeous marble altar was sculpted by Antonio Capellano from Genoa and erected in the church back in 1796. The icon of Our Lady of the Rocks in the center of the altar is work of Lovro Dobricevic in 1452.
One can also notice the belt of silver between the lower and upper walls, a total of 2500 silver votives, where were donates by locals. Each one of this plates will tell a story, a pledge by a local, ships during stormy voyages, legs or arms representing injured sailors, all prayers hoping to be answered.
The museum of the island covers two floors, they lapidarium, where you will find traces going as back to Neolithic times, a collections of rocks with different inscriptions on them, some Illyrian, Hellenic, Latin scripts. There are collections of weapons, everyday items which are now part of a antique collections, paints both modern as well as medieval styles.
One special item on the museum is the embroidery work made by Hacinta Kunic, a Perast lady who took 25 years of devotion and faith representing the altar work as well as the paint of Mother and child with a needle work project. She use Silver treads, Golden treads, Damascus on Chinese and Japanese Silk, around 500 stitches per square centimeter ( we will need magnifying glasses to comprehend her skills) and the most impressive part is to notice the hair on the different angels head as well as Mother and child. Hacinta used her own her do finished her embroidery, we will notice how her hair color turn from golden brown to grain in 25 years.