Our Lady of the Rocks
On Gingerguide's self-guided Kotor audio tour, Our Lady of the Rocks is a stop worth about ~45 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~45 min
- Kotor Kotor guide
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About Our Lady of the Rocks
A church on a man-made island off Perast, raised from the seabed by sinking old ships and dropping stones, still widened each July by rowers.
Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) is a small islet in the Bay of Kotor off Perast, carrying a Roman Catholic church of the same name. It is an artificial island, often described as the only man-made island in the Adriatic, built up over centuries around a natural reef by sinking old and captured ships loaded with rocks and by dropping stones. It covers about 3,030 square metres. Each year at sunset on 22 July, the men of Perast row out and drop stones beside the island in a ritual called the fašinada, which still reinforces and widens it.
The church interior holds 68 paintings by the Baroque painter Tripo Kokolja of Perast, whose largest canvas, "The Death of the Virgin", is about ten metres long. Among its treasures are around 2,500 silver votive plaques and an embroidered tapestry worked over some 25 years by Jacinta Kunić-Mijović. The church was enlarged in 1722.
Did you know? The founding story is tradition, not record: two sailors said to have found a Madonna icon on a sea rock on 22 July 1452, vowing to raise an island with stones on every safe voyage home.
How much time do you need at Our Lady of the Rocks?
Around ~45 min works well for Our Lady of the Rocks — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Our Lady of the Rocks?
Yes — Our Lady of the Rocks made the cut as one of 12 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Kotor. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Kotor
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Our Lady of the Rocks and read more:
Day 2 of the Kotor in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Our Lady of the Rocks
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