Our Lady of the Rocks

Our Lady of the Rocks is a small artificial island off the town of Perast in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. A Catholic church with a sky-blue dome stands on it, along with a small museum, a gift shop and a navigation light at the northern end. It is one of two islets in the bay, the other being Sveti Đorđe.

It is famous because people built the island themselves. According to legend, sailors laid rocks in the sea after each safe voyage, and over centuries the islet slowly rose from the water. It was also made by sinking old and captured ships loaded with stones.

The legend of the islet

The story says that on 22 July 1452 local seamen found an icon of Mary and the child Jesus on a rock in the sea. They promised to lay a stone there whenever they returned safely from a voyage. Over time the heaps of stone grew into an island. The church on it was renovated in 1722, and the date 1632 is often given for the church itself.

A tradition that continues

The custom is still alive. Every year at sunset on 22 July, local people take their boats out and throw rocks into the sea, which widens the island. This event is called fašinada in the local dialect. Inside, the museum holds 68 paintings by Tripo Kokolja, a 17th-century artist from Perast, and a famous tapestry embroidered over 25 years by Jacinta Kunić-Mijović, who worked her own hair into the threads.

On the globe

The toy model shows the small rock islet in the sea with its church and sky-blue dome.