Our Lady of the Rocks off the coast of sunny Montenegro is hardly an island. After all, this is not a wonderful nook, surrounded by greenery, covered with fine sand, and washed by the waters of the Adriatic Sea, but a flat area, artificially created on a small reef and crowned by the Church of Our Lady of the Rocks, the main and only attraction of the island, except a small old lighthouse. What attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world to this amazing Montenegrin land?
The reason is an ancient legend about how two brothers-fishermen from the town of Perast found an icon of Our Lady of the Rocks near the shore of a small sea reef. Day and night, the brothers prayed to the saint, until the miraculous icon healed the bum leg of one of them. Soon all the residents of Perast learned about the miraculous healing and decided to build an artificial island on the reef, as well as to erect a shrine in gratitude to Our Lady.
To create such a unique island, the townspeople sank old vessels and captured pirate ships. Besides, the city authorities obliged all sailors traveling past the reef to contribute to the construction of the island by throwing stones into the water. Interestingly, this custom is still relevant. Every year on July 22, Perast hosts an ancient folk holiday called Fasinada (Fašinada). Coastal residents decorate their fishing boats, set sail, and make three circles around Our Lady of the Rocks, throwing heavy stones in the sea.
The construction of the island began in the middle of the 15th century and lasted more than 2 centuries until a flat plateau of more than 3 thousand square meters appeared on the water surface. After that, the construction of the temple began. Unfortunately, the disastrous earthquake of 1667 almost destroyed its walls. Thus, the present-day look of the church was reached during a thorough restoration of the late 17th century. The delightful medieval Church of Our Lady of the Rocks, 11 meters high, contains authentic paintings by the famous Montenegrin artist Tripo Kokolja, who spent 10 years of his life decorating the temple with frescoes.